This case summary is part of a collection of summaries describing the cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). See the Online Resource Hub pages on the ICTY and International Criminal Law, and the table of ICTY case summaries for additional information.
Trial Judgment: 8 May 2006
Ivica Rajić, a commander of the HVO based in Kiseljak, stood trial for allegedly having planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation and execution of crimes in Vareš municipality against Muslim residents in the area, including the detention of Muslim civilians, the plunder of Muslim homes by forces under Ivica Rajić’s command, and the sexual assault of Muslim women. The prosecution accused him, under theories of individual and superior criminal responsibility, of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions for willful killing, inhuman treatment, unlawful confinement of a civilian, appropriation of property, and extensive destruction not justified by military necessity; and violation of the laws or customs of war for murder, outrages upon personal dignity, cruel treatment, plunder of public or private property, and wanton destruction of a city or devastation not justified by military necessity.
In 2006, the Trial Chamber accepted Rajić’s guilty plea for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions for willful killing, inhumane treatment, appropriation of property, and extensive destruction not justified by military necessity; the Trial Chamber considered Rajić evading justice and the heinous acts he committed aggravating factors for his sentence, but considered his sincere remorse in his statement of guilt and help for the prosecution to learn what happened in Stupni Do and Vareš mitigating factors. The Trial Chamber sentenced Rajić to 12 years’ imprisonment.