Legacy website of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

Since the ICTY’s closure on 31 December 2017, the Mechanism maintains this website as part of its mission to preserve and promote the legacy of the UN International Criminal Tribunals.

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Crimes before the ICTY: Central Bosnia

Neighbors against neighbors.

In early 1993, a full scale war erupted in the Lašva Valley of Central Bosnia, between forces of the Bosnian Croats and the Bosnian Muslims, former allies in the war against the Serbs, with the involvement of neighboring Croatia on one side and foreign mujahedeen on the other side. Lurid crimes against civilians were committed on regular basis, before the eyes of the UN peacekeeping forces and international TV crews.

Investigations into crimes committed by both sides began even while the crimes were still happening. Unsurprisingly, some of the first indictments issued by the Office of the Prosecutor of the newly established International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia were related to crimes in Central Bosnia.

Through interviews with protagonists and courtroom footage, Crimes before the ICTY: Central Bosnia tells the story of how the crimes were discovered, the subsequent investigations by the Tribunal and the difficult path to establishing the facts about what happened. It is the story of the early days of the modern international justice system.