    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 31 (Monday, August 6, 2001)]
    [Pages 1131-1132]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on Bringing War Criminals to Justice

    August 3, 2001

        I welcome today's transfer to the U.N. International Tribunal for
    former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of three military officers accused of war
    crimes by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This decision, like
    similar decisions by the Governments in Croatia and Yugoslavia, shows
    that the democratic governments of the region are taking seriously their
    international obligations and the need to make a break from the violence
    and atrocities of the past.

    [[Page 1132]]

        I also welcome the decision of the Tribunal convicting General
    Radislav Krstic of genocide in the 1995 massacre of Muslims from
    Srebrenica. I welcome and fully support the Tribunal's judgment. Those
    who commit war crimes must face justice. As I said in Kosovo, we must
    not allow difference to be a license to kill and vulnerability an excuse
    to dominate.
        These two important steps advance the cause of justice but also help
    to consolidate peace and promote rule of law. They bring closer to
    reality our vision in which the countries of the Balkans are part of a
    Europe that is whole, free, and at peace.