Wednesday, March 29, 2006

In 2002 I was a legal intern at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague. My primary duty was to attend the trial of Slobodan Milosevic and to report to State Department officials on the case.

I spent most of my days in the gallery listening to the translation of Mr. Milosevic's ranting and to the judges' tired efforts to impose order on a proceeding that many international observers regarded as a circus.

I also listened to many witnesses, some of whom were simple people whose identities were protected by opaque screens. They spoke of horrific crimes they had witnessed, while Mr. Milosevic scoffed at their revelations.

That trial was a formative experience for me, a descendant of Holocaust victims, and it reignited my passion for justice and my commitment to do all I can to prevent and prosecute genocide.

The tribunal in The Hague was the first attempt at an international criminal justice system and the first international war crimes court since Nuremberg. But after so many years and so much energy, we never will have a conviction ["Milosevic Dies in Prison Cell While on Trial," March 19].

Did Mr. Milosevic cheat the system by stalling so long that he died before the court could rule? And what about all those courageous witnesses, and the thousands of Mr. Milosevic's victims?

The tribunal has prosecuted other war criminals and continues to do so, but we need to provide truth and reconciliation -- and closure -- for the victims of Mr. Milosevic's crimes.

I hope that evolving international law will allow for such closure, so that we can point to unequivocal findings of fact, educate current and future generations about these atrocities, and ensure that such evil never happens again.

RYAN SPIEGEL

Gaithersburg