The Srebrenica Genocide and Serbia's International Responsibility

Year 2023, Volume: 8 Issue: 22, 822 - 838, 28.10.2023

Haydar Karaman , Burak Güneş

https://doi.org/10.25204/iktisad.1341988

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the crime of genocide that took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995, from a juridico-political perspective. While making this analysis, an attempt was made to show the extent to which the decisions made by the courts were political. As critical legal studies reveal, law is inherently political. It is also subjective because it is political. This subjectivity causes the law to side with the political power in the slightest power imbalance between the parties. In this study, it is claimed that the International Court of Justice, in its decision regarding the "genocide" that took place in Srebrebitsa, observed the international balance of power very skillfully and, as a result, tried not to shake the balance of interests and power of sovereign states with its decision. Based on this, the study revisits a number of issues related to the history and memory of Srebrenica; In order to keep the memory fresh and to consider the crime from different perspectives, it will also examine the aspects that resonate with political history as a whole and affect the process leading to the crime. When evaluated in this context, the present study aims to critically re-evaluate the decision of the International Court of Justice in the context of the law of state responsibility, while trying to keep alive the atrocities that took place in Yugoslavia.

Keywords

Srebrenica, Yugoslavia, Soykırım, ICJ, ICTY

Project Number

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Srebrenitsa Soykırımı ve Sırbistan’ın Uluslararası Sorumluluğu

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, 1995’te Bosna-Hersek Srebrenitsa’da gerçekleşen soykırım suçunu juridico-political (yasal-politik) bir hat üzerinden incelemektir. Bu inceleme yapılırken, mahkemelerin vermiş oldukları kararların ne derecede siyasi olduğu gösterilmeye çalışılmıştır. Eleştirel hukuk çalışmalarının ortaya koyduğu gibi hukuk, doğası gereği siyasaldır. Siyasal olmasından dolayı da özneldir. Bu öznellik ise taraflar arasındaki en ufak bir güç dengesizliğinde, hukukun siyasal güçten yana tavır almasına neden olmaktadır. Bu çalışmada da Uluslararası Adalet Divanı’nın Srebrebitsa’da meydana gelen “soykırıma” dair almış olduğu kararda, uluslararası güç dengelerini son derece ustalıkla gözettiği ve bunun sonucunda vermiş olduğu karar ile egemen devletlerin çıkar ve güç dengesini sarsmamaya gayret ettiği ileri sürülmektedir. Buradan hareketle çalışma, Srebrenitsa tarihiyle ilgili bir dizi meseleyi tekrar ele alırken; hafızayı taze tutmak ve suçu farklı açılardan ele almak amacıyla, bir bütün olarak siyasi tarihte yankılanan, suça giden sürece etki eden yönleri de inceleyecektir. Bu bağlamda değerlendirildiğinde eldeki çalışma, Yugoslavya’da meydana gelen zulümleri unutturmadan, devletlerin sorumluluğu hukuku bağlamında da Uluslararası Adalet Divanı’nın vermiş olduğu kararı eleştirel bir gözle yeniden değerlendirmek gayesindedir.

Keywords

Srebrenitsa, Yugoslavya, Genocide, UAD, EYCM

Supporting Institution

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Project Number

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Thanks

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