Genocide

BELGRADE - The Department for War Crimes of the High Court in Belgrade acquitted Monday former member of the Tenja Territorial Defense Force Zarko Cubrilo of the murder of 11 Croat civilians in Tenja, eastern Croatia, in the summer of 1991.

The prosecution has the right to appeal this decision to the Appellate Court in Belgrade.

Experts and victims’ groups believe that the Hague Tribunal’s final verdict on ex-officer Zdravko Tolimir will be vital for determining exactly where and why genocide was committed in July 1995.

Worried about a draft resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives that recognizes the 1915 killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide, a group of Turkish politicians have set out for Washington to ensure that the resolution does not pass.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek arrived in Washington and is expected to meet his counterpart at the House of Representatives on March 25.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists may have committed genocide in trying to wipe out the Yazidi minority in Iraq, a UN report said March 19.
      
ISIL "may have committed all three of the most serious international crimes -- namely war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide," the United Nations human rights office said in a statement.
      

"Genocide lawsuit" plans are "insult to victims"

BELGRADE -- Parliamentary Committee on Kosovo and Metohija chairman Milovan Drecun says Hashim Thaci's announcement of a "genocide lawsuit" was "an insult to the victims."

BELGRADE - The International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision to dismiss Croatia's claim and Serbia's counter-claim of genocide put an end to a difficult chapter in relations between the two countries, Director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Aleksandra Joksimovic noted.

BELGRADE - Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has said that the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the mutual genocide lawsuits filed by Croatia and Serbia is a good opportunity for overcoming the past and turning to a common European future.

"It is now up to Serbia and Croatia to prosecute crimes"

BELGRADE -- Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic has said that the ICJ judgment in the mutual lawsuits "put an end to the legal dispute between Serbia and Croatia."

BRUSSELS - Serbia and Croatia should accept the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision on their mutual genocide lawsuits and turn to building a lasting reconciliation, said Eduard Kukan, chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Countries of South East Europe.

"Genocide bar raised very high" - outgoing Croat president

ZAGREB -- Ivo Josipovic says he is not satisfied with the judgment of the ICJ that dismissed Croatian and Serbian claim and counter-claim of genocide.