{"id":20731,"date":"2026-09-04T14:31:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yihr.rs\/?p=20731"},"modified":"2026-09-04T14:31:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:31:25","slug":"granting-state-and-military-honors-to-ratko-mladic-is-immoral-and-unlawful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yihr.rs\/en\/granting-state-and-military-honors-to-ratko-mladic-is-immoral-and-unlawful\/","title":{"rendered":"Granting State and Military Honors to Ratko Mladi\u0107 Is Immoral and Unlawful"},"content":{"rendered":"

By a final <\/span>judgment<\/span><\/a> of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in 2021, Mladi\u0107 was stripped of his rank in the Army of Serbia, previously the Army of Yugoslavia, pursuant to Article 185 of the Law on the Army of Serbia. As a result, he also lost the rights associated with that rank, including state and military honors. By granting honors to a convicted war criminal, the Government of Serbia and the Ministry of Defense violated the Law on the Army.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the news of the war criminal’s death, the authorities in Serbia have, over the past seven days, created an atmosphere in which the denial of war crimes, and particularly the genocide in Srebrenica, has been promoted in public: murals and graffiti celebrating the war criminal have been painted, public gatherings have been held where messages of hatred are shouted and written, and religious services of the Serbian Orthodox Church have been held in Mladi\u0107’s honor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past week, citizens of Serbia have provided the Youth Initiative for Human Rights with information about a larger number of murals celebrating Mladi\u0107, which our organization will report to local municipal authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the Government of Serbia’s aircraft that transported Mladi\u0107’s body from The Hague, along with members of his family, was Minister of Justice Nenad Vuji\u0107, who last week also announced state and military honors for the war criminal. Mladi\u0107’s coffin was covered with the flags of Serbia and Republika Srpska, and six members of the Serbian Armed Forces in uniforms carried it off the aircraft. The announcement that a state memorial ceremony for Mladi\u0107 will be held at the House of the Army on Saturday is likewise an example of the Ministry of Defense glorifying a war criminal.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the transport from Belgrade airport, several members of the <\/span>police<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>military<\/span><\/a> saluted the motorcade carrying Mladi\u0107’s body. This constitutes an insult to the victims of Mladi\u0107’s crimes, but also to the representatives of Serbia’s prosecution and police who arrested and brought to justice the fugitive who was convicted of war crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Youth Initiative for Human Rights’ report, <\/span>State of Denial \u2013 Serbia 2025<\/span><\/i><\/a>, we warned that the funeral of Neboj\u0161a Pavkovi\u0107, a war criminal who was buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens, would set a precedent for state and military honors to be granted to war criminals who die.<\/span><\/p>\n

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos <\/span>cancelled<\/span><\/a> her visit to Serbia due to the glorification of Mladi\u0107 during the transfer of his remains, while Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty <\/span>condemned<\/span><\/a> the glorification of Mladi\u0107 by officials in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2023 research report <\/span>Young People’s Attitudes Toward the Wars of the 1990s in Serbia<\/span><\/i><\/a>, published by the Youth Initiative, shows that the majority of young people in Serbia do not view Ratko Mladi\u0107 as a hero. Fewer than one-third of young people view him positively, while more than one-third view him negatively, and almost 40% of young people have no opinion about Mladi\u0107. The efforts of the authorities in Serbia to glorify Mladi\u0107 as a hero are aimed at imposing war criminals as role models on younger generations. This is also evidenced by a <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> made by Minister of Justice Nenad Vuji\u0107 to TV Prva, in which he said that younger generations would remember Mladi\u0107 \u201cas someone who fought for his people and made a key contribution to the creation of Republika Srpska and the security of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Without disputing the Mladi\u0107 family’s right to a dignified funeral, the granting of state and military honors amounts to an identification of the crimes for which Mladi\u0107 was convicted with society as a whole, for which state officials bear the greatest responsibility: Prime Minister Macut, Minister of Justice Vuji\u0107, Minister of Defense Ga\u0161i\u0107, and President of Serbia Vu\u010di\u0107. In recent days, Minister Vuji\u0107 and President Vu\u010di\u0107 have distinguished themselves as spokespersons for Ratko Mladi\u0107, unjustifiably accusing the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals of providing negligent medical treatment to Mladi\u0107. This is deeply immoral conduct on the part of Serbia’s government officials, conduct that the citizens of Serbia will be ashamed of in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Youth Initiative for Human Rights condemns the misuse of state resources that were employed in transporting the body and announcing a state memorial ceremony for Ratko Mladi\u0107, who was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1479],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGranting State and Military Honors to Ratko Mladi\u0107 Is Immoral and Unlawful - YIHR.rs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/yihr.rs\/en\/granting-state-and-military-honors-to-ratko-mladic-is-immoral-and-unlawful\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Granting State and Military Honors to Ratko Mladi\u0107 Is Immoral and Unlawful - 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