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VII.  The War Crimes Chamber’s Potential for Impact

The WCC offers tremendous promise to affect the way justice is realized in Bosnia.  In this regard, Human Rights Watch is encouraged by the efforts made thus far to create a solid foundation to conduct fair and effective trials before the WCC, including initiatives to promote sustainable local capacity.  However, the real challenges associated with conducting fair and effective trials lie ahead.  Depending on how these challenges are addressed, the WCC and its institutions have the potential to make a significant impact on building respect for the rule of law in Bosnia.  In that regard, it will require continuous support from the international community and the people of Bosnia in realizing its full potential.

Finally, the limited mandate and resources of the WCC mean it will try a small number of the most serious war crimes cases in Bosnia.  The bulk of the prosecutions of war crimes cases will take place in the district and cantonal courts throughout Bosnia. Although a detailed analysis of the functioning of those courts is outside the scope of this report, there are reasons to believe that their lack of resources, among other factors, may undermine their ability to conduct fair and effective war crimes trials.²⁰³  Ensuring effective trials in these courts, in addition to those in the WCC, is absolutely essential to building respect for the rule of law in Bosnia.  Moreover, without adequate support for these courts, there is a real risk that the accomplishments of the WCC will, at best, only have limited impact.  We therefore strongly urge the international community to provide the cantonal and district courts with this much-needed support.