## Facts

- During the 1992 armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb forces detained Bosnian Muslim civilians in Brčko, including at the Luka detention facility.
- Goran Jelisić, a Bosnian Serb associated with the Luka facility, participated in arrests, detention, and systematic mistreatment of Bosnian Muslim detainees.
- He personally killed and abused detainees and engaged in cruel, humiliating treatment; the underlying acts of murder and mistreatment were largely not disputed.
- Jelisić pleaded guilty to most counts charging crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war, but pleaded not guilty to genocide.
- The Trial Chamber accepted the guilty pleas on the non-genocide counts, proceeded to sentencing on those counts, and held a contested trial on the genocide charge focused on proof of genocidal intent.

## Issues

1. Whether the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Jelisić acted with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Bosnian Muslim group as such, as required for genocide under Article 4.
2. Whether the admitted conduct satisfied the elements of crimes against humanity under Article 5, including that the acts were part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population and committed with knowledge of that attack.
3. Whether the admitted conduct satisfied the elements of violations of the laws or customs of war under Article 3, including the existence of an armed conflict and a nexus between the acts and the conflict.
4. What sentence was appropriate for the crimes against humanity and war crimes convictions in light of aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

## Decision

- The Trial Chamber acquitted Jelisić of genocide because the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt the required specific intent (dolus specialis) to destroy the protected group as such.
- The Trial Chamber entered convictions, based on guilty pleas and supporting evidence, for crimes against humanity (including murder and other inhumane acts) and for violations of the laws or customs of war (including murder, cruel treatment, and plunder).
- The Trial Chamber imposed a single sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment for the crimes against humanity and war crimes convictions.

## Legal Principles

- Genocide requires both the underlying prohibited acts and proof of a special intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group “as such”; discriminatory animus or even repeated discriminatory killings, without more, is insufficient.
- The specific intent element of genocide must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and may not be presumed solely from the gravity or number of killings.
- Crimes against humanity require an attack directed against a civilian population that is widespread or systematic, and the accused must commit the charged acts with knowledge of the broader attack.
- War crimes under Article 3 require an armed conflict, a nexus between the conduct and the conflict, and victims protected under international humanitarian law; murder, cruel treatment, and plunder can satisfy the substantive violations when these contextual elements are met.
- In sentencing, the Tribunal weighs the extreme gravity of the offenses and aggravating features (such as brutality and the terror inflicted on detainees) against mitigating factors, including a guilty plea and relevant personal or mental-health circumstances.

## Conclusion

The Trial Chamber held Jelisić criminally responsible for serious crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslim detainees in Brčko, but acquitted him of genocide because the evidence did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that his violence was carried out with the special intent to destroy the group as such, and it imposed a 40-year term of imprisonment for the convictions entered on his guilty pleas.


Prosecutor v. Jelisić, Case No. IT-95-10-T (Int’l Crim. Trib. for the Former Yugoslavia Dec. 14, 1999)