[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.