U.S. Department of State

The tribunal's mission is to promote justice for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia in order to restore peace and security to the region. It seeks to hold individuals who committed serious violations of international humanitarian law accountable, thereby providing justice for victims and deterring future crimes.

Since its inception in 1993, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has presided over trials of defendants accused of committing serious violations of international humanitarian law in present day Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia. One case of note before the court was the trial of Radislav Krstic, a Bosnian Serb general. The Krstic case resulted in the court's first successful conviction, held on appeal, related to genocide. Another notable case was the trial of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. He went on trial on February 12, 2002, defending himself against 66 counts of crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Milosevic died of natural causes on March 11, 2006 before his trial ended.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's completion strategy envisions a close of trials by the end of 2008 and appeals by the end of 2010. Pursuant to this strategy, the tribunal intends to refer intermediate and low-level defendants to national courts while focusing its energies on prosecuting the most high ranking officials.