Life After Conviction at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia: Perpetrator Support Networks

Of the 92 persons convicted at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for core international crimes, 60 have already served their sentences and were released. The literature on truth and reconciliation suggests that perpetrators' public behavior in post-conflict environments are essential for countering denial, establishing an authoritative version of the truth, and can contribute to sustainable reconciliation. However, at the moment, it is still not clear what exactly happens after the prisoners complete their sentence or are granted early-release. Until quite recently ICTY did not have a monitoring system of the released convicts, therefore, they would often simply fall off the radar. This paper is one of the first attempts to understand what pathways and why ICTY convicts take after release. It finds that those who promote nationalist interpretations of the past, deny their responsibility and involvement in crimes are often hailed by receptive domestic audiences across the Western Balkans. They successfully use certain support networks, such as dominant political parties or military and war veterans' organizations, to take back their place in public life. On the other hand, those convicts who admitted their guilt and responsibility and do not promote a nationalist interpretation of the past often find themselves ostracized, living in poverty and seclusion. This paper draws upon various public domain sources, such as online media, social networks, newspaper articles, documentaries and video interviews. Open-source materials were complemented with reports comprised by local human rights organizations and academic articles and books on the subject. The information gathered was sometimes insufficient or was impossible to triangulate with at least two mutually independent sources. Therefore, additional interviews throughout the region were conducted, targeting experts who work in the field of transitional justice and have knowledge about the prosecution of war crimes. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro during January-May 2021. This research project is primarily an explorative and descriptive contribution, attempting to document the empirical realities of the post-conviction stage at the ICTY. Therefore, the conclusions are preliminary and should be tested further, including by interviewing the convicts themselves, to understand better their choices regarding participation/non-participation in public life and the societal pressures experienced.