What do we want from war criminals?

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Steve3007
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Joined: June 15th, 2011, 5:53 pm

What do we want from war criminals?

Post by Steve3007 »

The former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić has finally been found guilty, at the international criminal court, of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The most infamous of his many crimes was, of course, organising the Srebrenica massacre in which 8000 Muslim men and boys were murdered.

Of course, as is usually the case, there is no repentance. Just anger and defiance from the indicted criminal(s) and flat out denial, whitewashing of history or "yes, but what about the other guys?" by his supporters back home.

But what do we expect from people like this? Are we always hoping to see some sign of contrition? Or do we simply want them to experience a small taste of the suffering that they have inflicted? These war crimes trials are difficult and time consuming and extremely limited in the number of criminals they catch. Are they worth doing? Is it important to do them as a matter of principle? Are they important in providing "closure" for the survivors and the families of the victims?

Finally: If there was one more individual that you could have tried for war crimes, who would it be?
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Burning ghost
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Re: What do we want from war criminals?

Post by Burning ghost »

I think any attempt to look these people in the face and try and figure out the motivations is a worthy exercise.

Often they are caught up in the moment and fully believe they were justified. Some later come to see fault with their previous views and others do not.
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Synthesis
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Re: What do we want from war criminals?

Post by Synthesis »

There are no innocents, only those less involved.
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Sy Borg
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Re: What do we want from war criminals?

Post by Sy Borg »

It would seem that deterrence and giving victims a sense of closure would be the main aims.
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