Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: We use several perspectives on justice to explore how victims of war
crimes view the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY). Using four samples of victims from Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Croatia collected over a period of eight years, we
analyze how the victims view the ICTY’s trials and its decisions, and
explore factors that affect their views of the ICTY. Over the
eight-year period considered in our research, our respondents show an
increasing level of dissatisfaction with the ICTY. With the passage of
time, they are less likely to pick the ICTY as the appropriate
decision-maker and less likely to view it as fair. They are becoming
more convinced that the ICTY is lacking neutrality, while, at the same
time, they also think that local courts are gaining more independence
from political influence. Our results suggest that three issues explain
the respondents’ growing dissatisfaction with the ICTY: their increased
doubts about the ICTY’s neutrality, decision fairness, and the right to
plea bargain. For victims who have no opportunities to participate in
the trials themselves, it is a matter of trust in the decision-makers
and the perceptions of decision fairness. A five-page description is
included in the attachment.