They Would Never Hurt a Fly
Encyclopedia
They Would Never Hurt a Fly by Slavenka Drakulić
is a 2004 book discussing the personalities of the Hague
War Crimes defendants from the former Yugoslavia
(see International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
). Most chapters are personality profiles of an individual war criminal, rather than expositions of hard facts. Most of those discussed are already convicted. Radovan Karadžić
is not covered at all, Slobodan Milošević
and his wife
each rate their own chapter, and Ratko Mladić
is portrayed as a Greek tragic figure. Usually only the crimes for which the subjects have been convicted are mentioned. There are no pictures, although the physical appearance of the characters is continuously mentioned.
A common theme is how those on trial in the Hague were not monsters but ordinary people who did terrible things in the circumstances they were in. Drakulić takes this stance not to sympathize with them, but because she feels people should not label such people as inhuman. By treating such people as something other than human, she argues, they put them in a different class of people that they could never be a part of. As a result, they refuse to believe that such acts could be committed by themselves, their neighbors, their co-workers, thus allowing such things to happen to begin with.
The book ends noting the strange coexistence that the accused war criminals have together in the Scheveningen prison in the Hague. Despite containing people who had committed atrocities at all levels on all sides, there was only one incident, which occurred when Slobodan Milošević was first brought to the "detention unit". As Irish director of the "unit" Timothy McFadden says, the accused are held as innocent until proven guilty, and thus are treated to better living conditions than anywhere else in Europe, and possibly the world. They can watch television shows in their own language (via satellite), have fairly spacious cells, can have visitors whenever and as often as they want, can take classes in English or art, and so on. Drakulić notes the disparity between their living conditions and the crimes they are accused of, then asks what the war was for if the greatest architects of it can get along in peace. The answer, she concludes, is that it was for nothing.
Slavenka Drakulic
Slavenka Drakulić is a noted Croatian writer and publicist who currently lives in Sweden.Slavenka Drakulić was born in Rijeka, PR Croatia, on July 4, 1949. She graduated in comparative literature and sociology from the University in Zagreb in 1976...
is a 2004 book discussing the personalities of the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
War Crimes defendants from the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
(see 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...
). Most chapters are personality profiles of an individual war criminal, rather than expositions of hard facts. Most of those discussed are already convicted. 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...
is not covered at all, Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
and his wife
Mirjana Markovic
Mirjana "Mira" Marković is the leader of the Yugoslav Left political party and the widow and childhood friend of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević.-Personal life:...
each rate their own chapter, and 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...
is portrayed as a Greek tragic figure. Usually only the crimes for which the subjects have been convicted are mentioned. There are no pictures, although the physical appearance of the characters is continuously mentioned.
A common theme is how those on trial in the Hague were not monsters but ordinary people who did terrible things in the circumstances they were in. Drakulić takes this stance not to sympathize with them, but because she feels people should not label such people as inhuman. By treating such people as something other than human, she argues, they put them in a different class of people that they could never be a part of. As a result, they refuse to believe that such acts could be committed by themselves, their neighbors, their co-workers, thus allowing such things to happen to begin with.
The book ends noting the strange coexistence that the accused war criminals have together in the Scheveningen prison in the Hague. Despite containing people who had committed atrocities at all levels on all sides, there was only one incident, which occurred when Slobodan Milošević was first brought to the "detention unit". As Irish director of the "unit" Timothy McFadden says, the accused are held as innocent until proven guilty, and thus are treated to better living conditions than anywhere else in Europe, and possibly the world. They can watch television shows in their own language (via satellite), have fairly spacious cells, can have visitors whenever and as often as they want, can take classes in English or art, and so on. Drakulić notes the disparity between their living conditions and the crimes they are accused of, then asks what the war was for if the greatest architects of it can get along in peace. The answer, she concludes, is that it was for nothing.
People covered
- Milan Čanić
- Dražen ErdemovićDražen ErdemovicDražen Erdemović is an ethnic Bosnian Croat who fought during the Bosnian War for the Army of Republika Srpska and who was later sentenced for his enforced participation in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.-Background:Erdemović fought in the Croatian Army during the Siege of Vukovar before returning...
- Stjepan Grandić
- Goran JelisićGoran JelisicGoran Jelisić is a Bosnian Serb who was charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and with violating the customs of war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia .He moved to Brčko after completing high school, to work as a machinery technician...
- Radomir Kovač
- Radislav KrstićRadislav KrsticRadislav Krstić was the Deputy Commander and later Chief of Staff of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska from October 1994 until 12 July 1995...
- Dragoljub Kunarac
- Milan Levar
- Mirjana MarkovićMirjana MarkovicMirjana "Mira" Marković is the leader of the Yugoslav Left political party and the widow and childhood friend of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević.-Personal life:...
- Slobodan MiloševićSlobodan MiloševićSlobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
- Ratko MladićRatko MladićRatko 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...
- Mirko NoracMirko NoracMirko Norac is a former general of the Croatian Army. In 2003 he became the first Croatian Army general to be found guilty of war crimes by a Croatian court after he was transferred from The Hague...
- Tihomir Orešković
- Biljana PlavšićBiljana PlavšicBiljana Plavšić is a former president of Republika Srpska and war criminal. She is the highest ranking Bosnian Serb politician to be sentenced. She was indicted in 2001 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for war crimes committed during the Bosnian war...
- Ivica Rožić
- Zoran VukovićZoran VukovicZoran Vuković is a Bosnian Serb who was charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his actions in the city of Foča during the Bosnian War...