Christoph Flügge
Encyclopedia
Christoph Flügge is a German jurist and judge. From June 2001 to February 2007, he was Secretary of State in the Department of Justice of the State of Berlin
. On 18 September 2008, he was appointed permanent judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY). As a result of controversial comments made in 2009, some genocide scholars and victims' groups have accused him of genocide denial
in relation to the Bosnian Genocide
and more specifically the Srebrenica genocide. He served as a judge in the war crimes trial against Radovan Karadžić
, but was removed from the case. In 2011, he was appointed presiding judge in the trial of Ratko Mladić
, but there have been calls for his resignation from several Bosnian victims' groups.
and the University of Bonn
. He graduated with the first state exam in 1973 and the second in 1976. He worked as an assistant for an SPD
Member of Parliament during his studies from 1969 to 1971, and was employed at a West Berlin law firm in 1973.
In 1976 he became secretary to Senator Kurt Neubauer (SPD). In 1977 he became a public prosecutor, and from 1978, he worked in the Berlin Department of Justice. He was appointed as criminal judge at the Berlin Amtsgericht in 1983. In 1989, he returned to the Berlin Department of Justice. In 2001, he was appointed Secretary of State by Senator Wolfgang Wieland. He was dismissed as Secretary by Senator Gisela von der Aue in February 2007.
At the proposal of the Federal Ministry of Justice
of Germany, he was appointed as permanent judge at the ICTY by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
in 2008.
He was a member of the trial chamber in the case against Serbia's former interior minister Vlastimir Đorđević and of the trial chamber in the case against Radovan Karadžić
; however, he was removed from the latter case after controversial comments. It is not clear why he was removed from the case. On 27 May 2011, he was appointed as one of the three judges of the trial chamber in the case against Ratko Mladić
.
He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
.
that were criticized for denying the Bosnian Genocide
. Flügge claimed the term genocide was "unnecessary" while describing the Srebrenica genocide, which has been determined to be genocide by the United Nations
and the ICTY itself. Several genocide scholars protested against his comments, accusing him of denial of the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Congress of North American Bosniaks
demanded that Flügge be removed from his position as judge, stating that the organisation was "shocked and confounded" by his statements "in which he openly questions the Srebrenica genocide", accusing him of genocide denial
. The organisation demanded "a complete retraction of the statement" and "a full apology to all the victims of the genocide who have been hurt by this statement, at a time when they are getting ready to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the genocide and bury more victims who are still being identified from the many mass graves".
Flügge was removed from the Radovan Karadžić
case following the protest by Bosniak victims' groups. The Congress of North American Bosniaks
applauded the decision, but demanded an official apology. The organisation cited former ICTY President Theodor Meron
, who stated in 2005:
Following the appointment of Flügge as a judge in the Ratko Mladić
case, three major associations of Muslim victims of the Bosnian Genocide
—the Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina Camp Inmates, the Association of Women Victims of War
, and the Movement of Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves—wrote a letter to the ICTY, protesting against the appointment of Flügge and accusing him of having "denied that the crime of genocide had been committed in Srebrenica". The organisations stated that Flügge has showed that he "does not deserve to be a judge with the Hague Tribunal" and that he has "demonstrated that he is prone to prejudice". The organisations were joined in their protest against Flügge by the Congress of North American Bosniaks
, which criticized Flügge of his "refusal to apologize for the comments and publicly recognize the classification of Srebrenica Genocide". In a joint letter from the Congress of North American Bosniaks, the Institute for Genocide Research Canada, and the Australian Council of Bosnian Herzegovina Organizations, the organizations requested that Flügge be removed from the Mladić case, stating that the
The organisations stated further that:
Despite Flügge's claim that the Srebrenica Genocide was not a genocide, Ratko Mladić
has been charged by prosecutor Serge Brammertz
with the crime of genocide
.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. On 18 September 2008, he was appointed permanent judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
(ICTY). As a result of controversial comments made in 2009, some genocide scholars and victims' groups have accused him of genocide denial
Genocide denial
Genocide denial occurs when an act of genocide is met with attempts to deny the occurrence and minimize the scale or death toll. The most well-known type is Holocaust denial, but its definition can extend to any genocide that has been minimized or met with excessive skepticism.Where there is near...
in relation to the Bosnian Genocide
Bosnian Genocide
The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
and more specifically the Srebrenica genocide. He served as a judge in the war crimes trial against Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
, but was removed from the case. In 2011, he was appointed presiding judge in the trial of Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
, but there have been calls for his resignation from several Bosnian victims' groups.
Career
Flügge studied law from 1967 to 1973 at the Free University of BerlinFree University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
and the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. He graduated with the first state exam in 1973 and the second in 1976. He worked as an assistant for an SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
Member of Parliament during his studies from 1969 to 1971, and was employed at a West Berlin law firm in 1973.
In 1976 he became secretary to Senator Kurt Neubauer (SPD). In 1977 he became a public prosecutor, and from 1978, he worked in the Berlin Department of Justice. He was appointed as criminal judge at the Berlin Amtsgericht in 1983. In 1989, he returned to the Berlin Department of Justice. In 2001, he was appointed Secretary of State by Senator Wolfgang Wieland. He was dismissed as Secretary by Senator Gisela von der Aue in February 2007.
At the proposal of the Federal Ministry of Justice
Federal Ministry of Justice (Germany)
The Federal Ministry of Justice is a federal ministry in Germany.Under the federal system of Germany, individual states are most responsible for the administration of justice and the application of penalties. The Federal Ministry of Justice devotes itself to creating and changing law in the...
of Germany, he was appointed as permanent judge at the ICTY by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
in 2008.
He was a member of the trial chamber in the case against Serbia's former interior minister Vlastimir Đorđević and of the trial chamber in the case against Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
; however, he was removed from the latter case after controversial comments. It is not clear why he was removed from the case. On 27 May 2011, he was appointed as one of the three judges of the trial chamber in the case against Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
.
He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
.
Accusations of genocide denial
In 2009, Christoph Flügge made controversial public comments in an interview with Der SpiegelDer Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
that were criticized for denying the Bosnian Genocide
Bosnian Genocide
The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
. Flügge claimed the term genocide was "unnecessary" while describing the Srebrenica genocide, which has been determined to be genocide by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and the ICTY itself. Several genocide scholars protested against his comments, accusing him of denial of the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Congress of North American Bosniaks
Congress of North American Bosniaks
Congress of North American Bosniaks is a Chicago-based non-profit organization representing Bosniaks who live in the United States and Canada. The organization promotes civic, educational and cultural programs, as well as Bosniak-American and Bosniak-Canadian involvement and accomplishments...
demanded that Flügge be removed from his position as judge, stating that the organisation was "shocked and confounded" by his statements "in which he openly questions the Srebrenica genocide", accusing him of genocide denial
Genocide denial
Genocide denial occurs when an act of genocide is met with attempts to deny the occurrence and minimize the scale or death toll. The most well-known type is Holocaust denial, but its definition can extend to any genocide that has been minimized or met with excessive skepticism.Where there is near...
. The organisation demanded "a complete retraction of the statement" and "a full apology to all the victims of the genocide who have been hurt by this statement, at a time when they are getting ready to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the genocide and bury more victims who are still being identified from the many mass graves".
Flügge was removed from the Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
case following the protest by Bosniak victims' groups. The Congress of North American Bosniaks
Congress of North American Bosniaks
Congress of North American Bosniaks is a Chicago-based non-profit organization representing Bosniaks who live in the United States and Canada. The organization promotes civic, educational and cultural programs, as well as Bosniak-American and Bosniak-Canadian involvement and accomplishments...
applauded the decision, but demanded an official apology. The organisation cited former ICTY President Theodor Meron
Theodor Meron
Theodor Meron was the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia until 2005, and now serves as a judge on the Appeals Chambers of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the ICTY. On October 19, 2011, he was elected to a second two-year term as President...
, who stated in 2005:
- "By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims [Bosniaks], the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the 40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general.
- They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity. The Bosnian Serb forces were aware, when they embarked on this genocidal venture, that the harm they caused would continue to plague the Bosnian Muslims.
- The Appeals Chamber states unequivocally that the law condemns, in appropriate terms, the deep and lasting injury inflicted, and calls the massacre at Srebrenica by its proper name: genocide. Those responsible will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous act."
Following the appointment of Flügge as a judge in the Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
case, three major associations of Muslim victims of the Bosnian Genocide
Bosnian Genocide
The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
—the Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina Camp Inmates, the Association of Women Victims of War
Association of Women Victims of War
Association of Women Victims of War is a non-governmental organisation based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, that campaigns for the rights of women victims of rape and similar crimes during the Bosnian war 1992-1995....
, and the Movement of Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves—wrote a letter to the ICTY, protesting against the appointment of Flügge and accusing him of having "denied that the crime of genocide had been committed in Srebrenica". The organisations stated that Flügge has showed that he "does not deserve to be a judge with the Hague Tribunal" and that he has "demonstrated that he is prone to prejudice". The organisations were joined in their protest against Flügge by the Congress of North American Bosniaks
Congress of North American Bosniaks
Congress of North American Bosniaks is a Chicago-based non-profit organization representing Bosniaks who live in the United States and Canada. The organization promotes civic, educational and cultural programs, as well as Bosniak-American and Bosniak-Canadian involvement and accomplishments...
, which criticized Flügge of his "refusal to apologize for the comments and publicly recognize the classification of Srebrenica Genocide". In a joint letter from the Congress of North American Bosniaks, the Institute for Genocide Research Canada, and the Australian Council of Bosnian Herzegovina Organizations, the organizations requested that Flügge be removed from the Mladić case, stating that the
- "International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has already confirmed, in several cases including the 2007 ruling against Serbia and Montenegro, the classification of the murder of more than 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica as genocide. This fact has also been recognized by organizations and governments across the world, including the U.S Congress in resolutions 199 and 134 on genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Judge Flügge is therefore unable to show impartiality to the case and was in a clear violation of The Hague’s Rule 15(A). His statement also directly violated previous ICTY rulings which confirmed that the atrocities committed against Bosniaks in Srebrenica constitute genocide, in accordance with the definition from the Geneva Convention of 1949."
The organisations stated further that:
- "It is unacceptable that, one day after the capture of the monstrous war criminal Ratko Mladic, the victims of genocide have to deal with a judge who does not even recognize the true nature of the atrocities that claimed the lives of their loved ones".
Despite Flügge's claim that the Srebrenica Genocide was not a genocide, Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
has been charged by prosecutor Serge Brammertz
Serge Brammertz
Serge Brammertz is a Belgian jurist, and the prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.Brammertz was deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court from 2002 to 2007...
with the crime of genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
.
Publications
- DDR-Strafvollzug. Recht statt Drill. In: Neue Kriminalpolitik, 1990
- Alter Geist - neue Probleme. Strafvollzug nach der Wiedervereinigung. In: Neue Kriminalpolitik, 1991
- Assessment of the Ukrainian Prison System (Lakes/Fliigge/Philip/Nestorovic-Report), Council of Europe, Strasbourg 1997 (UKR V.B. 4 [97]1)
- ... und sie bewegt sich doch. Debatte um die Todesstrafe in der Ukraine. In: ai-Journal 6/1997
- Berlin zeigt Mut zur Reform. In: Neue Kriminalpolitik, 1/1998
- Untersuchungshaftanstalten des MfS. In: Strafvollzug in den neuen Bundesländern. Kriminologische Zentralstelle, Wiesbaden 1999
- Reassessment of the Needs of the Ukrainian Prison System. Council of Europe, Strasbourg 2004 (SG/Ukraine [2003] 1REV)