Mladic: Death Probe Goes to Judge Bonomi, Body in Hague

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said on August 29 that it cannot yet say when Ratko Mladic’s remains will be handed over to Serbia, nor give details about the circumstances of his death, because an investigation ordered by the Mechanism’s president is now underway under Judge Iain Bonomy. For Belgrade, that is currently the only real open question: when and under what conditions the body of the former commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska will cross the border, while Serbia and Republika Srpska are already debating what kind of funeral he should have.

Mladic died while hospitalized in The Hague, the Netherlands. The doctor at the United Nations Detention Unit was notified of his death immediately, and Dutch authorities launched the standard procedures and investigations that follow any death of this kind, in line with national law.

Investigation ordered by the Mechanism’s president

The Mechanism’s president, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, invoked her authority under the Mechanism’s Statute and Rules of Detention and ordered a full investigation into the circumstances of Mladic’s death, assigning Judge Iain Bonomy to lead it. A statement published on the Mechanism’s website said:

Ratko Mladic died today while hospitalized in The Hague, the Netherlands.

That is the only official confirmation of the death of the one person within the Mechanism’s jurisdiction who was convicted of genocide. Mladic was arrested on May 26, 2011, after more than a decade in hiding from the Hague tribunal, and was transferred to The Hague shortly afterward. He was sentenced on November 22, 2017 to life in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the Mechanism’s Appeals Chamber upheld that verdict on June 8, 2021. At the time of his death he was awaiting transfer to a country where he would serve out the rest of his sentence, a decision the Mechanism never made.

The Mechanism itself was established under UN Security Council Resolution 1966, adopted in December 2010, to carry on the mandate of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It has operated in The Hague since July 1, 2013 and is now the only remaining body still handling proceedings from that legacy, after the Rwanda branch closed in late 2015 and the Hague tribunal itself closed in late 2017.

Serbia waits for a deadline from The Hague

Serbia’s justice minister, Nenad Vujic, said on August 28, a day before the Mechanism’s statement, that Serbia is ready to take over the body as soon as The Hague gives a concrete deadline and procedure.

We expect the Mechanism in The Hague to give us a specific timeframe, the procedures and the steps that need to be taken. If they told us to come tomorrow morning, we are ready to be in The Hague and take over Mladic’s body.

Vujic said.

Vujic also announced that Mladic would receive military and state honors, while President Aleksandar Vucic said the funeral arrangements depend solely on the family’s wishes and that the state will provide a dignified funeral if the family requests one. In Banja Luka on August 29, Slobodan Zupljanin, president of the Organization of Veteran Officers of the Army of Republika Srpska, said General Ratko Mladic should be buried with full military and state honors.

The Mechanism has not given even a rough timeline for when Judge Bonomy’s investigation should conclude, nor a new date by which it might answer the question of handing over the body. While that investigation continues, both the procedure for returning the remains and the decision on where and how the funeral will take place remain in the hands of the institution in The Hague, beyond the reach of both Belgrade and Banja Luka.