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CONCLUSION

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that, “in the determination of any criminal charge against him…everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.”⁴¹ The decision of the Vukovar court violates these provisions on multiple grounds.

While Human Rights Watch rarely comments on the content of court decisions, and generally focuses on procedural issues, the glaring deficiencies in the sentencing judgment against Ivanka Savic are of such magnitude that they cannot pass without comment. The Vukovar County Court did not credibly establish the facts alleged in the indictment. The court also failed to address and resolve crucial legal issues of intent, causation, and the conditions for the applicability of provisions in the Croatian penal code. The Supreme Court should annul the Vukovar County Court’s decision.

Human Rights Watch welcomes the October 2003 legislation allowing for the transfer of war crimes cases in Croatia to courts in large cities. Until judges and prosecutors acquire sufficient knowledge of international humanitarian law, and politicians, judges, and lawyers genuinely recognize that ethnic bias in war crimes prosecutions is unacceptable and take active steps to combat it, war crimes cases will remain unsuitable for trial in county courts outside large cities. More generally, the Croatian government should redouble its efforts to bring to an end the pervasive practice of ethnic bias in war crimes trials.