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| towns and villages in that and
other areas, fall equally within the jurisdiction of the
ICTY and merit substantial investigation by the
Prosecutor, the research for the current report has been
limited to a specific time-period. The report thus
focuses on serious violations of international
humanitarian law which are rapidly fading into the past
and seeks to ensure that they are fully investigated and
discussed in order to assess the criminal responsibility
of those who directed the violence, destruction and
suffering of the whole Kosovo conflict, from the highest
level. II. JURISDICTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL A. Applicability of Articles 2, 3, 4 and 5 The jurisdiction of the International Tribunal over potential violations of international humanitarian law in Kosovo is, on its face, apparent. Article 1 of the ICTY Statute provides that any serious violation of international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 may be prosecuted and punished by the Tribunal. Kosovo, which has the status of a province of the Republic of Serbia, thus falls within the spatial requirement of Article 1 and the temporal requirement is met by virtue of the open-ended term "since 1991". Articles 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Statute then provide the framework for the types of violations with which the International Tribunal is concerned by enunciating its subject matter jurisdiction in more detail. These Articles read as follows: Article 2 Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 The International Tribunal shall have the power to prosecute persons committing or ordering to be committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention: (a) wilful killing; (b) torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; (c) wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health; (d) extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; (e) compelling a prisoner of war or a civilian to serve in the forces of a hostile power; (f) wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or a civilian of the rights of fair and regular trial; (g) unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a civilian; (h) taking civilians as hostages. Article 3 Violations of the laws or customs of war The International Tribunal shall have the power to prosecute persons violating the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to: |
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