The Trial Of Slobodan Milosevic (Socialist Renewal, Fourth Series, 2)

What is happening in the court-house in The Hague, to which Slobodan Milosevic has been brought, intermittently, since 2002? What purposes does the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia serve?

'…most of these experts have featured the Tribunal as a 'political court' (Edward Greenspan) and "means of effecting policy" (Christopher Black), an 'instrument of revenge rather than justice' (Jon Holbrook) whose indictments are of a 'purely political nature' (Hans Koechler), at once the 'judicial arm of NATO (Kirsten Sellars) and the 'propaganda arm of NATO' too (Michael Mandel), politics flowing from the purpose, organization, funding and staffing of the Tribunal.' - Edward S. Herman & David Peterson

'…the Tribunal's expenses were supposed to come out of the UN budget, but in fact it has depended on US and other governments' funding, on donations from George Soros and other private donors, with equipment and staff seconded by NATO members. Some $3 million came from the United States in 1994-5, when the US was failing to meets its financial obligations to the United Nations. Gilbert Guillaume, President of the International Court of Justice, complained to the UN General Assembly in October 2000 that the Tribunal got ten times more money than his court and suggested that this was because "various parties create new forums that will be more amenable to their arguments"…' - Michael Barratt Brown