International criminal justice courts – Sentencing of Radovan Karadzic (The Hague, 20 March 2019)

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The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals sentenced Radovan Karadzic on March 20 to life in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995), which left more than 100 000 dead and resulted in 2.2 million displaced persons. The verdict is final.

France pays tribute to the courage of the victims and witnesses who gave evidence before the international criminal courts. It remembers those who died during the siege of Sarajevo, the detention conditions of the prisoners, the rape used extensively as a weapon of war, the ethnic cleansing of thousands of victims of genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995 and the many victims of enforced disappearances.

As the Council of the European Union has reaffirmed on several occasions, all those responsible for the most serious crimes committed in the Western Balkans must be tried so that the countries of the region can look to the future. France is committed to the fight against impunity all over the world and calls on all states to fully cooperate with the international criminal courts and to comply with their decisions.