How states prosecute war crimes committed by their citizens after inter-group violence is an unassailable indicator of their commitment to peace and reconciliation.
But, justice in divided post-conflict states is often politicized, leading to differential treatment of defendants from different ethnic groups. Domestic war crimes trials are considered to be biased in favour of members of a dominant in-group, as evidenced in the sentencing practice and harsher punishment of out-group members. However, these claims have not been put to rigorous scrutiny to date. At the same time, scholarly preoccupation with ethnic bias because of salience of identity issues in inter-group conflicts, has resulted in their overlooking other conflict dynamics and their possible impact on war crimes prosecutions. We ask: who is punished for war crimes in domestic courts and how? Applying statistical modelling and quantitative text analysis to two original datasets based on 559 verdicts delivered to defendants in domestic war crimes trials in Serbia from 2000 until 2019, we identify novel strategies used by states to evade responsibility for wrongdoing, even when we do not find evidence of ethnic bias.
Dr Denisa Kostovicova is Associate Professor of Global Politics at the European Institute at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳. She is a scholar of conflict and post-conflict processes, with a particular interest in post-conflict transitional justice and accountability for human rights violations. She is the author of Kosovo: The Politics of Identity and Space, and of Reconciliation by Stealth: How People Talk About War Crimes (forthcoming). Her research has informed policy-making in the United Nations, European Union and the United Kingdom.
Ms Lanabi La Lova is a PhD candidate in the Department of International Relations, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳. Lanabi's research interests focus on mass media and its use in generating political support.
Dr Devika Hovell is is an Associate Professor in Public International Law at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law School.