BB-042 / War Crimes
Bosnian War Ethnic Cleansing
The Act
Bosnian Serb, Croat, and (to a lesser extent) Bosniak forces committed ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and killings during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The Srebrenica massacre was the largest single episode, but thousands more civilians died in other massacres and detention camps.
The Response
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia prosecuted dozens of perpetrators, including political and military leaders. The ICTY’s work established important precedents for the prosecution of ethnic cleansing and sexual violence as international crimes.