Posted on 02/28/2003 9:50:40 PM PST by kosta50
Biljana Plavsic , the former president of the Republic of Srpska, was sentenced today by the Hague Tribunal to 11 years. At the end of the last year, Ms Plavsic, has pleaded guilty to charges of persecution of Bosnian Muslims and Croats. Passing the sentence, the tribunal took into account her confession of guilt, remorse, her behavior after the war, voluntary surrender, and her age. However, Judge May said that the sentence was lenient for someone like Biljana Plavsic.
At 72, lenient or not, the ICTY gave her what amounts to a life sentence. It would have made no difference if she had been sentenced to 15 to 25 years, as the prosecutors asked.
If she had any hope that her decision to plead guilty would result in her freedom or a short sentence, she knows not how the Empire thinks.
For the Bosnian "Iron Lady," I recommend extensive reading while she spends her life in jail. She should read how the Empire treats its own war criminals, such as the (in)famous Lt. Calley, the real butcher of My Lai.
Having been convicted of killing 22 unaramed Vietnamese civilians, including one terrified baby trying to crawl out of a ditch where its parents were killed, Lt. Calley was found guilty of a murder instead of a mass murder that, under the circumstances, amounts to a war crime.
But, officially, the U.S. has no war criminals. Calley was not convicted of a war crime, but for his conviction of a murder, and for having ordered the killing of at least 100 more Vietname civilians, Lt> Calley was sentenced to life at hard labor (fair enough).
Popular groundswell exerted pressure, along with some state legislature resolutions, on the Nixon administration to do something. Being seen by some as a hero [sic], with even a ballad dedicated to him, the Army Secretary reduced his sentence to 10 years.
This did not appease the American public. Under even more intense pressure, President Richard Nixon converted his reduced sentence to house arrest. After three years of comfortable living in a Fort Bragg housing, Lt. Calley was paroled.
He susbsequently married (some "patritoic" woman found him appealing, imagine that!). He now works in a jewlery store of his father in law, a free man.
Despite the fact that ICTY often accuses (mostly) Serbs of command responsibility reaching to ying-yang, but which traditionally applies only to immediate commanders, it is noteworthy that none of Lt. Calley's superiors -- starting from his company commander and higher -- was convicted of any wrongdoing, let alone war crimes. Capt Medina, his commanding officer, was charged but never convicted. The Americal Division and ultimately the commander-in-chief were never brought into the line of responsiblity.
Some 20-plus of Calley's soldiers were charged, but never tried. A total of only 6 people were tried, and only Lt. Calley was convicted -- of "a" murder.
My Lai was a horrendous war crime, fully documented on military footage and other evidence that was effectively supressed. My Lai was reported as astunning "military victory [sic], and members of Lt. calley's unit were even decorated for their "heroism." Estimates of the deads range from 100 to 500 unarmed, civlians, including infants and little children. Not a single U.S. solider was killed or fired upon during that carnage. Some of the soldiers raped and then killed Vietnamese girls -- a crime against humanity. None of this was enough to put away the monster by the name Lt. Calley and his unsung "heroes" away for life.
But for Bilyana Plvashich, at 72, even the sentence of 11 years is decried as too short by Bosnian Muslims.
For war crimes in My Lai, Lt. Calley walks. For war crimes in Bosnia, Plavshich gets life. That is how the Empire treates its own war criminals (they are never called that officially), and others. So much for justice.
She was tricked into pleading guilty thinking it would get her off in return for testimony against Slobo, Karadzic and Mladic and life in comfortable exile. The Kangaroo Court betrayed her and said for appearances she would do jail time (it is a show trail after all).
Feeling betrayed thus she is refusing to testify against anyone else. She figures a jail cell is better than living poor and hated back home. At least now she has food and shelter and free medical care for what is left of her life.
VRN
Perhaps not legally, but when did that stop anyone? "Rules exist to be broken" says an American adage.
They just as easily dropped the more serious charges (misleading her to hope that she is out of the fire) as they morphed My Lai into a "stunning military victory," which is how it was officialy characterized.
VRN
Maybe, but Mad Albright and Richard Holbrooke have made it an official State Department Policy, to wit Mad Albright saying she is awful to the Serbs "because they are awful people," and Holbrooke on Larry King Live calling Serbs "murderous a$$holes." If it is coming from the highest echalons of our State Department - I would say it's official policy, and is therefore institutionalized. Any such sweeping generalizations about any national or ethnic group constitutes racism. So, institutionalized racism indeed.
VRN
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