The West's Selective Justice System
THE CLAIM: ABC News reports on the closing statements in the war crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and three co-defendants. Thaçi stands accused by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers – a court established under Kosovo law but staffed by international judges and prosecutors and based in The Hague – of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, and persecution,
stemming from his leadership of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the 1998-1999 conflict. THE EVIDENCE: The court's remit specifically covers crimes allegedly committed by KLA members between January 1998 and December 2000. This particular focus has been a point of contention within Kosovo, with critics arguing it disproportionately targets ethnic Albanians. The KLA, which Thaçi led, was an
insurgency against Serbia that received significant, albeit often tacit, support from NATO powers during the 1999 intervention. The intervention itself, conducted without a UN Security Council resolution, was justified on humanitarian grounds to prevent a perceived genocide by Serbian forces. The prosecution alleges that the KLA retaliated against perceived collaborators, Serbs, Roma, and other
ethnic minorities, and political opponents within their own ranks, operating detention centers where these abuses occurred. THE CONTRADICTIONS: The establishment of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers itself is a stark example of selective justice. While its mandate is narrow, focusing on KLA actions, there has been no equivalent and comprehensive international tribunal rigorously investigating the