U.N. Official: Public Commemoration of Mladic Disturbing

Ratko Mladic (ICTY photo)

United Nations special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Chaloka Beyani, on Sept. 9 described as "deeply inappropriate and profoundly disturbing" the large-scale public commemoration of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the participation of political officials at his funeral, and the "official ceremonial elements."

According to a press release issued by the U.N. office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Beyani said this all "relativizes serious crimes under international law, assaults the dignity and experiences of victims and survivors and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mladic was judicially found guilty of." "It is incompatible with efforts to advance accountability, mutual understanding, and sustainable peace in the region," Beyani said.

"The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice determined conclusively that a genocide was committed in Srebrenica in 1995," the statement read, going on to note that "in his capacity as a commander of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), Mladic was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war by ICTY in 2017 and sentenced by the Tribunal to life imprisonment. "The facts established by ICTY do not get extinguished by one's death," Beyani stressed.

Beyani joined a statement made by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Mladic's death and "his call to all those in positions of power to refrain from denying the seriousness of the crimes committed by him and which have been adjudicated."