The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) formally asked the International Court of Justice [official website] Thursday to review a 2007 ruling [text, PDF; JURIST report] clearing Serbia of genocide during their 1990 civil war. President Izetbegovic of the President of the Democratic Party of Action, engaged a lawyer to draft the request before the 10-year statute of limitations runs out on February 26. The request for review [RFE/FL report] has prompted anger from Bosnian Serbs and Serbia; Bosnian presidency’s Serb chairman stated the appeal would violate the country’s constitution and “threaten peace and stability in Bosnia,” creating a further ethnic divide in the Balkans.

The appeal follows a trend of continued legal action against those accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity that left more than 100,000 people dead and millions displaced during the Balkan conflict of the 1990s. BiH vowed to file the appeal earlier this month, prompting many to many fear [JURIST report] that a political crisis may be brewing in the Balkans. In October a Croatian prosecutor charged eight ex-Yugoslav military officers [JURIST report], including commander Borislav Djukic, with war crimes perpetrated during the Croatian War of Independence. In July Brazilian authorities arrested a man charged with committing war crimes in 1992 [JURIST report] against the civilian population of former Yugoslavia. The search for wanted criminal Nikola Ceranic began in late June after Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities forwarded an extradition request to the Brazilian Justice Ministry and Supreme Court. In April a French court ruled to extradite Radomir Susnjar [JURIST report], who is suspected of war crimes committed during Balkan conflict of the 1990s, to Sarajevo where he will face charges concerning his involvement. The ICJ ruled in 2015 that Serbia and Croatia did not commit genocide against each other’s citizens during the 1990s conflict.