Australia has been accused of providing a safe haven for alleged war criminals after the country failed to act on the case of a Bosnian war criminal, who lived in Canberra for almost 10 years, reports Fairfax newspapers.
Krunoslav Bonic was wanted by Bosnian police for 8 years for alleged war crimes committed during the Bosnian war in 1992-1995.
According to Australia's Attorney-General department an extradition request was made in March.
The Yugoslavian war crimes tribunal at the Hague has heard evidence that Bonic cut the ears off dead soldiers for money and interrogated civilians.
"It sends a message that Australia is not a country that's serious about ending or at least dinting impunity for the commission of mass atrocity and gross violation of human rights," Dr Gideon Boas, an Associate Professor in Law at Melbourne's Monash University told SBS news.
"It's not enough to simply say that - These crimes were committed in other countries at a different time and place, there are legislative, legal and policy difficulties that are associated with them, so we'll just stick our head in the sand and do nothing - I think it behoves Australia, given our resources and given our desire to participate internationally to take a seat at the UN Security Council, it behoves Australia to do something about this problem."
See here and here for more.
Krunoslav Bonic was wanted by Bosnian police for 8 years for alleged war crimes committed during the Bosnian war in 1992-1995.
According to Australia's Attorney-General department an extradition request was made in March.
The Yugoslavian war crimes tribunal at the Hague has heard evidence that Bonic cut the ears off dead soldiers for money and interrogated civilians.
"It sends a message that Australia is not a country that's serious about ending or at least dinting impunity for the commission of mass atrocity and gross violation of human rights," Dr Gideon Boas, an Associate Professor in Law at Melbourne's Monash University told SBS news.
"It's not enough to simply say that - These crimes were committed in other countries at a different time and place, there are legislative, legal and policy difficulties that are associated with them, so we'll just stick our head in the sand and do nothing - I think it behoves Australia, given our resources and given our desire to participate internationally to take a seat at the UN Security Council, it behoves Australia to do something about this problem."
See here and here for more.