[JURIST] Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] opened their case [press release] Tuesday in the trial against three former officers of the Yugoslavian army who allegedly permitted the massacre of more than 200 hospital patients in the Croatian town of Vukovar. The prosecution accused the three former officers, known as the Vukovar Three [BBC profile], of ignoring orders to prevent soldiers under their command from committing acts of retribution, and were thus complicit in one of the most significant massacres during the Balkan wars. The three former officers have been charged [ICTY case backgrounder] with five counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of violation of the laws or customs of war. Reuters has more.