Radovan Stankovic was transferred from the ICTY to Sarajevo on September 29, to be tried by the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Stankovic is charged with four counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war. He is indicted along with seven other persons in connection with crimes committed in 1992-93 after the fall of the Bosnian town of Foca.
Background
The original indictment against Stankovic was confirmed on 26 June 1996 and included seven other persons. Stankovic was apprehended by the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) in the Foca area on 9 July 2002, and was transferred to the Tribunal the following day. A subsequent amended indictment charging only the accused was filed on 8 December 2003 and confirmed on 24 February 2004.
Stankovic is charged with four counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war. The indictment alleges that, following the takeover of Foca in April 1992 by Serb forces, military and police accompanied by local and non-local soldiers started arresting Muslim inhabitants. During the arrests, many civilians were killed, beaten or subjected to sexual assault. Muslim women, children and the elderly were detained in houses, apartments and motels in the town of Foca and in surrounding villages, or at short and long-term detention centres such as the Foca High School and the Partizan Sports Hall. Many of the detained women were subjected to humiliating and degrading conditions of life, to brutal beatings and to sexual assault, including rape. Besides the above-mentioned places of detention, several women were detained in houses and apartments used as brothels and operated by groups of soldiers, mostly paramilitary.
Stankovic is charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility under Article 7(1) of the Statute. The indictment alleges that from about 3 August 1992 until about 10 October 1992, Stankovic, together with other Serb soldiers, was in charge of a house used to detain at least nine Muslim women and girls who were subjected to repeated rape and sexual assault. His alleged participation included assigning the women and girls to specific Serb soldiers to be raped and otherwise sexually assaulted. The indictment further alleges that he personally raped at least two women, one of whom he claimed as his own, in order to repeatedly rape her over a three month time span.
On 21 September 2004, the Prosecutor requested that the case against Stankovic be referred to Bosnia and Herzegovina pursuant to Rule 11bis. A hearing was held on 4 March 2005 and the Referral Bench rendered its decision on 17 May 2005 for the case to be referred. The Prosecution filed a notice of appeal on 30 May, seeking that the Decision of the Referral Bench be revised in the parts relating to questions of monitoring and reporting. The Defence appealed the Decision on 16 June, objecting to the referral of the case. On 1 September 2005, the Appeals Chamber issued its Decision, allowing the Prosecution to appeal in part and dismissing the Defence appeal in its entirety, thereby confirming referral of the case to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Radovan Stankovic is the first ICTY indictee to be transferred to a state in the former Yugoslavia for trial.
