Miroslav Kvocka granted early release

Who is Miroslav Kvocka and why was he in jail?

On 30 March 2005, the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Theodor Meron, granted Miroslav Kvocka’s Request for early release pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute of the Tribunal, and Rules 124 and 125 of the Rules of Evidence and Procedure.
On 2 November 2001, Miroslav Kvocka was found guilty by virtue of his individual criminal responsibility on one count of crimes against humanity (persecutions) and two counts of violations of the laws or customs of war ( murder and torture) and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment which was upheld by the Appeals Chamber (Please refer to Press Release 940e dated 28 Februassry 2005).

In reaching his decision, the President considered a number of different factors. These included the fact that Kvocka had served two-thirds of his sentence on 13 January 2004.

The President also considered a number of submissions, including reports by the Commanding Officer of the Detention Unit and the Office of the Prosecutor, and consulted with the members of the Appeals Chamber and the members of the Bureau.

So, get convicted of persecution, torture and murder and get seven years in jail but serve only four. This should send a powerful message to the Sudanese government, which is ignoring the United Nations anyway.

For some reason the MSM is ignoring Kvocka's early release: a Google News search for Kvocka yielded only six results, none of them MSM. Maybe they'll pick up on it eventually.

Update: Kvocka's case information file is here.

Kvocka's judgement is as follows:

Mr. Kvocka, you are a professional policeman, very knowledgeable about the rules which apply to police work.

While working at Omarska camp from 29 May to 23 June 1992, you were, as you stated yourself, a duty officer. You had no official function, no specific responsibility. You did witness several acts of violence but never participated in them. On the contrary, you claim that you wanted to help some people, in particular, your Muslim brothers-in-law.

Nonetheless, the Chamber considers that isolated acts of kindness to some prisoners do not absolve an individual of crimes which may have been committed.

You were not a low-level official at the very bottom of the ladder and so totally unable to exert an influence on what was happening. The evidence presented at trial demonstrates that you were the camp commander’s right hand and, as such, passed on the orders which he issued. Your role, however, did not end there because you replaced the commander in his absence. And you could intervene so that the mistreatment of a detainee would be stopped. You knew that sanctions could be taken against those guards responsible for crimes but you did not take any meaningful steps to do so. You observed the climate of constant violence in the camp and still, day after day, returned to carry out your responsibilities in Omarska. You told us that you would have remained longer in the camp had you been given the choice.

In short, not only did you know of the system of persecution which Omarska camp represented but you also agreed with it and made it possible for the system to function. You did your work so well that the victims had no doubt that you were the camp’s deputy commander.

The Chamber accepts that you are a professional policeman who loves his work. The Chamber can accept that of your own accord you would not have taken the decision to mistreat non-Serbs systematically and repeatedly.

But you participated in the workings of that system and, in so doing, incurred criminal responsibility. For the reasons set out in detail in the Judgement, the Chamber finds you guilty of the crime against humanity, persecution, and the war crimes, murder and torture.

To get a better picture of what was going in these camps go here and scroll down to Kvocka et al., click on Press Release No. 631. In short, Kvocka was intimately involved in the running of a detention camp that makes abu Ghraib look like a Sunday school, for which he serves four years in jail. To his protestations of innocence the judge has this to say:

The detainees ... were almost always beaten, usually ferociously. The men were tortured in front of each other. Sometimes they were made to beat one another. A father was beaten to death in front of his son. The men shrieked with pain. There was blood on the walls and on the ground. The men who came out of there alive had open wounds, could not stand or were unconscious. The corpses removed from there had open wounds to the skull, severed joints, slit throats. Some of the victims were ultimately executed with a bullet.

The accused heard nothing, saw nothing and did nothing.

Detainees sometimes died as a result of beatings. Their bodies were left on the ground ... sometimes for several days. They would be loaded into small trucks by detainees.

Did the accused still see nothing?

Some of the bodies, including those of two women, would be discovered in mass graves much later.

The 12th of July is Saint Peter’s day (Petrovdan) an important Orthodox celebration when large bonfires are lit. On 12 July 1992, a large bonfire was lit using tyres. Shots were fired at one of the rooms containing detainees. Some were called out of the hangar. Screams were heard. The air smelt of burnt tyres and grilled flesh.

Anyone complaining about the sentences handed down to US forces convicted of mistreatment of prisoners, or about the treatment of prisoners in general, can now shut the fuck up.