Ad Hoc Tribunals
In May 1993, during the Yugoslav Wars following the massive war crimes, and acts of "ethnic cleansing" in the former Yugoslavia by Bosnian-Serb forces, the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, to try war criminals of all nationalities. The crimes indicted included Grave breaches of the Geneva Convention, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and Genocide. It would be the first International Tribunal since the Nuremberg Trials to do so. In 1994, the UN would also open the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, following the April-June genocide in that country, of Hutu nationals. In the ICTY nearly 161 individuals would be indicted 68% of Serb ethnicity. Croatian-Serb, Bosnian-Serb, Serbian, and Bosnian-Croat officals would be convicted of Crimes Against Humanity, and Bosnian-Serb leaders of genocide. It would be the first tribunal in which sexual assault would be prosecuted as a war crime. The tribunal's while effective in prosecution of individuals, would prove to be a costly venture, and expose the need for a permanent tribunal, which would eventually be known as the International Criminal Court.
Read more about this topic: War Crimes Trials