Modern war crimes are increasingly being tried

Down to politics
Judges in the case of Slobodan Milosevic allowed the former Serb leader to manipulate and delay the proceedings — until he dropped dead in his jail cell of a heart attack in his trial's fifth year in 2006.

The ongoing case of former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, the first case to go before the new International Criminal Court, was on the verge of collapse because of contradicting rules that allowed the prosecutor to keep some evidence confidential while demanding that he turn over all material he comes across that could help the defense. ICC judges are still working on compromise solutions that will allow the trial to begin.

But the most serious flaw in the tribunals is outside the courtroom: They may be instruments of justice, but they are creatures of politics.

The long delay in arresting Karadzic and his top military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic, who is still a fugitive, is being seen as a deliberate political act by the Serbian government. Karadzic's arrest came only after the previous government was ousted in elections. Serbia's new, pro-Western government is interested in getting into the European Union, which has long demanded the arrests of war crimes suspects.

"There is a change of political will," in Belgrade, said Florence Hartmann, the longtime aide of former Yugoslav prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. "Europe has changed its mind and convinced Belgrade that it was the best way to go, and I think together they have made a big step."

Politics are also at work in Africa. Leaders on the continent barely criticized the killings and beatings by government supporters during Zimbabwe's disputed election process and have refused to call Mugabe legally to account. Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir was defended by his peers even after the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court indicted him for genocide in Darfur.

"It always boils down to politics," said Crane. "The legal aspects may be relatively clear, but turning over senior government officials or a head of state is purely a political decision."

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