"No Amnesty" for Milosevic

With Slobodan Milosevic's political future crumbling, Human Rights Watch today categorically rejected the notion of a "safe haven" for the Yugoslav President to avoid prosecution at the Hague.  
 
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia indicted Slobodan Milosevic in May 1999. He was the first sitting head of state to be indicted for human rights crimes, but some in the diplomatic community are now calling for him to be sheltered as part of a political solution to remove him from office.  
 
"This man masterminded 'ethnic cleansing' and massacres in Kosovo and Bosnia," said Rachel Denber, Acting Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "Let's not forget the thousands who were slaughtered at Srebrenica, Vukovar and Sarajevo. He has to be called to account for these atrocities."  
 
Human Rights Watch noted that Milosevic's grip on power was rapidly weakening. "This is hardly the time to let him off the hook," said Denber.