Perpetrators of Atrocity: A Work in Progress

The Ohio State University Mershon Center for International Security Studies"Perpetrators of Atrocity" is a project involving detailed interviews with individuals who have been indicted or convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The goal of the study is to learn about the motivations and personal histories of those individuals who are currently standing trial, awaiting appeal, or serving sentences post-conviction. The project is unique in that nobody has ever sought to interview individuals indicted by the ICTY or any other war crimes tribunal on such a large scale, and in a manner that concerns not their alleged crimes, but rather elements of their personal and family histories. The ultimate goal is the publication of a book about the interviews. The project diverges from the majority of the current literature on the former Yugoslavia, most of centers on the political situation, both domestic and international, that led to the 1990s war and its aftermath. If the conflict is explored at a more individual level (itself a rare prospect), such exploration generally involves only victims, examining the crimes committed and their effects on those who suffered them. "Perpetrators of Atrocity" centers instead on the alleged perpetrators of war crimes, focusing not on their crimes, but on their personal lives, with the aim of identifying personal-level risk factors that may have made them susceptible to recruitment and participation in the conflict. Jessica Stern, the study's principal investigator, is particularly interested in studying instances of "inter-generational transmission of trauma," and analyzing the long-term impacts of violence upon a person, their children, grandchildren, etc.Mershon Center for International Security StudiesEvent Web Page, Streaming Video, Event Photo