The following is a summary of the indictment of President Slobodan Milosevic and other officials on war crimes charges relating to the war in Croatia and the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
Use the links below to go to the specific charge you want to read.
For the full text of the indictment and accompanying documents at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, click here
Kosovo: Introduction THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, pursuant to her authority under Article 18 of the Statute of the Tribunal, charges
- SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
- MILAN MILUTINOVIC
- NIKOLA SAINOVIC
- DRAGOLJUB OJDANIC
- VLAJKO STOJILJKOVIC
with CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY and VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR as set forth below.
At all times relevant to this indictment, a state of armed conflict existed in Kosovo in the FRY.
All acts and omissions charged as crimes against humanity were part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the Kosovo Albanian civilian population of Kosovo in the FRY.
Each of the accused is individually responsible for the crimes alleged against him in this indictment, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Tribunal Statute. Individual criminal responsibility includes committing, planning, instigating, ordering or aiding and abetting in the planning, preparation or execution of any crimes referred to in Articles 2 to 5 of the Tribunal Statute.
COUNTS 1 - 4 CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR
Beginning in January 1999 and continuing to the date of this indictment, Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Milan MILUTINOVIC, Nikola SAINOVIC, Dragoljub OJDANIC, and Vlajko STOJILJKOVIC planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in a campaign of terror and violence directed at Kosovo Albanian civilians living in Kosovo in the FRY. The campaign of terror and violence directed at the Kosovo Albanian population was executed by forces of the FRY and Serbia acting at the direction, with the encouragement, or with the support of Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Milan MILUTINOVIC, Nikola SAINOVIC, Dragoljub OJDANIC, and Vlajko STOJILJKOVIC.
The operations targeting the Kosovo Albanians were undertaken with the objective of removing a substantial portion of the Kosovo Albanian population from Kosovo in an effort to ensure continued Serbian control over the province.
To achieve this objective, the forces of the FRY and Serbia, acting in concert, have engaged in well-planned and co-ordinated operations as described in paragraphs 92 through 98 below.
The forces of the FRY and Serbia, have in a systematic manner, forcibly expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes across the entire province of Kosovo.
To facilitate these expulsions and displacements, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have intentionally created an atmosphere of fear and oppression through the use of force, threats of force, and acts of violence. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have looted and pillaged the personal and commercial property belonging to Kosovo Albanians forced from their homes.
Policemen, soldiers, and military officers have used wholesale searches, threats of force, and acts of violence to rob Kosovo Albanians of money and valuables, and in a systematic manner, authorities at FRY border posts have stolen personal vehicles and other property from Kosovo Albanians being deported from the province. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have engaged in a systematic campaign of destruction of property owned by Kosovo Albanian civilians.
This has been accomplished through the widespread shelling of towns and villages; the burning of homes, farms, and businesses; and the destruction of personal property.
As a result of these orchestrated actions, villages, towns, and entire regions have been made uninhabitable for Kosovo Albanians. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have harassed, humiliated, and degraded Kosovo Albanian civilians through physical and verbal abuse. Policemen, soldiers, and military officers have persistently subjected Kosovo Albanians to insults, racial slurs, degrading acts, beatings, and other forms of physical mistreatment based on their racial, religious, and political identification. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have systematically seized and destroyed the personal identity documents and licenses of vehicles belonging to Kosovo Albanian civilians.
As Kosovo Albanians have been forced from their homes and directed towards Kosovo's borders, they have been subjected to demands to surrender identity documents at selected points en route to border crossings and at border crossings into Albania and Macedonia.
These actions have been undertaken in order to erase any record of the deported Kosovo Albanians' presence in Kosovo and to deny them the right to return to their homes. Beginning on or about 1 January 1999 and continuing until the date of this indictment, the forces of the FRY and Serbia, acting at the direction, with the encouragement, or with the support of Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Milan MILUTINOVIC, Nikola SAINOVIC, Dragoljub OJDANIC, and Vlajko STOJILJKOVIC have perpetrated the actions set forth in paragraphs 92 through 96, which have resulted in the forced deportation of approximately 740,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians.
These actions have been undertaken in all areas of Kosovo, and these means and methods were used throughout the province, including the following municipalities:
Croatia: Introduction The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, pursuant to her authority under Article 18 of the Statute of the Tribunal, charges
with CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR and GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION OF 1949 as set forth below. Slobodan Milosevic is individually responsible for the crimes referred to in Articles 2,3 and 5 of the Statute of the Tribunal and described in this indictment, which he planned, instigated, ordered, committed, or in whose planning, preparation, or execution, he otherwise aided and abetted.
He participated in a joint criminal enterprise. The purpose of this joint criminal enterprise was the forcible removal of the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb population from the approximately one-third of the territory of the Republic of Croatia that he planned to become a new Serb-dominated state.
COUNT 1 CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
From on or about August 1 1991 until June 1992, Slobodan MILOSEVIC, acting alone or in concert with other known and unknown members of a joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted the planning, preparation, or execution of the persecutions of the Croat or non-Serb civilian populations in the territories of the Serbian Autonomous District (SAO) of Slavonia, Baranja and Srem (SBWS), the SAO Western Slavonia, the SAO Krajina, and the Dubrovnik Republic.
Throughout this period, Serb forces attacked and took control of towns, villages and settlements in the territories listed above. After the take-over, the Serb forces in co-operation with the local Serb authorities established a regime of persecutions designed to drive the Croat and other non-Serb civilian population from these territories.
These persecutions included the murder of hundreds of Croat and other non-Serb civilian population, the prolonged and routine imprisonment of thousands of Croat and other non-Serb civilians and the repeated torture, beatings and killings of these people in detention facilities.
Persecutions on political, religious, or racial grounds is a crime against humanity.
COUNTS 2 to 5 CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR AND GRAVE BREACH OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION