Judging events 30-years after the fact is also problematic. That is why the ad-hoc tribunals following WWII and the recent atrocity in the Balkans and Rwanda have been quick to bring people to justice. It is also easy to compare the motives of Kerrey and Kissinger to some current issues and examples.
There are problems of sovereignty and long-term effects of administering justice through courts that are international. Sometimes these international efforts, for instance the UN Tribunal to Adjudicate War Crimes Committed in the Former Yugoslavia, can be made to work very well indeed. National or domestic courts should always be used first, but there will be times where fair international courts can play a role.
First is the story of a general. In 1995 General Radislav Krstic commanding troops from the Bosnian Serb army butchered 7,000-8,000 people in less than a week. Krstic does not deny that the murders took place but denies that he had anything to do with it.
Krstic has since been sentenced to 46-years for his part in overseeing this obvious crime against humanity. "Individually, you agreed to evil and this is why today this trial chamber convicts you and sentences you to 46 years in prison," said Judge Almiro Rodrigues to Krstic.
Many have seen the 46-year sentence as far too light, noting that other lesser crimes in the same court have had sentences as high as 45-years. Others still fault the court for failing to employ the death penalty-which the court does not do. The truth is that 46 years may not be enough.
What price can you put on 7,000 or 8,000 lives? Given that context 46-years for 8,000 people seems weak indeed. But at 53 years old today it is unlikely that Krstic will ever see the light of day again.
What he did was clearly a war crime. The systematic slaughter of that many people for no reason what so ever is not tolerable. He is no Bob Kerrey and Kerrey clearly is not a war criminal if compared to Krstic.
What about Slobodan Milosevic? As President of the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Milosevic, is accused of violations of the laws or customs of war (Article 3 - Murder; persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds), and Crimes against humanity (Article 5 - deportation; murder; persecutions on political, racial or religious ground).
