In a discussion of ethnic cleansing, Cornelio Sommaruga, President of
the International Committee of the Red Cross [hereinafter: ICRC],
lamented that the practices that were believed to belong to the
museum of horrors of the Second World War have become routine in
the territory of the former Yugoslavia. In a series of public statements, the
ICRC -- usually so discreet -- has spoken out on the failure to respect the
rights of the civilian population, which has been subjected to systematic
abuses including summary execution, torture, rape, mass internment,
deportation and displacement in the process of which thousands may
have died, intimidation, taking of hostages, ill-treatment and confiscation
of private property. The most basic principles of international humanitar-
ian law -- and of course of human rights -- have been and are being
violated.

Whether or not one accepts the comparison to World War II's atrocities,
those being committed in the former Yugoslavia every day before our
very eyes exceed even those abuses perpetrated in Kuwait by Saddam
Hussein's occupation forces. Our sense of justice cannot accept the im-
punity enjoyed by the offenders. Because we were unable, or unwilling
to prevent the atrocities as they were unfolding, the prosecution of the
perpetrators must be undertaken, at the very least. Without action, huma-
nitarian law would be in danger of being swept aside entirely, and losing
whatever credibility it still has.

Whatever the practical achievements of the International Tribunal for
Yugoslavia may prove to be, the United Nations Security Council has
established the first truly international criminal tribunal ¹ for the prosecu-
tion of persons responsible for serious violations of international hu-
manitarian law. Its creation portends at least some deterrence to future
violations and gives a new lease on life to that part of international
criminal law which applies to violations of humanitarian law. These are

-210-