A War Crimes Investigator's Story John R. Cencich
Former Senior War Crimes Investigator
The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal
The Hague, Netherlands
Newly released 2nd edition
Foreword by Christian Chartier
In the summer of 1992, TV reports were broadcast across the globe that showed pictures, reminiscent of the Holocaust, of emaciated prisoners behind barbed wire in concentration-like makeshift camps. These were followed by the graphic images of the shelling of the jam-packed central market in Sarajevo, a city under siege. Other reports of mass killings, “ethnic cleansing,” and systematic rape and torture were widespread, including the abduction and murder of more than two hundred wounded hospital patients in Vukovar, Croatia. Outraged western public opinions eventually pushed the international community into action—the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was born, the first ever really international criminal tribunal.
Help was needed to investigate and pursue war criminals, and it quickly came from the White House. Like the establishment of the land- mark trials of the major Nazi and Japanese war criminals in Nuremberg and Tokyo in the wake of World War II, the U.S. government was a driving force behind the ICTY. The UN Security Council exercised its powers under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, which authorized the Council to take measures to “maintain or restore inter- national peace and security.” Consequently, the ICTY was officially established in 1993. All of this was done under the sound and clear pressure of strong diplomats. This included the then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, who solemnly avowed to the Security Council and the world, “There is an echo in this chamber today. The Nuremberg principles have been reaffirmed. The lesson that we are all accountable to international law may finally have taken hold in our collective memory.”
These were the diplomatic and political efforts that brought about this truly historical event. Yet politicians don’t bring criminals to the dock, and help was needed to commence the investigations that would eventually result in war crimes trials. From that day on, the Clinton administration, followed by the Bush administration, spared no effort to assist this completely new court of law in many ways. One of its main contributions was to make available skilled prosecutors, expert investigators, and experienced law enforcement officers. The U.S. government immediately seconded staff to the Tribunal and promoted UN recruitment efforts through the State Department.
I remember quite well when, in the autumn of 1998, American investigator John Cencich, the author of The Devil’s Garden, arrived in The Hague in the Netherlands to work in a new venue. It is one that he de- scribes quite accurately in his book, as the true “end game” for “war, violent crime, and espionage,” and a place where “the masks were taken off the men who committed crimes that shocked the conscious of humanity.” As an international civil servant and UN appointee, John was precisely one of these gems who worked day and night on missions throughout the Balkans and in many other parts of the world in order to expose the atrocities and bring those responsible to justice.
At the time perceived by many as a “fig-leaf” or a “toothless tiger,” the ICTY progressively became a feared investigative and prosecution body. There is no mistaking that John Cencich is one of these determined experts who, always working tirelessly, and frequently under dangerous conditions, made this happen. You will see this through The Devil’s Garden, a one-of-a-kind legal thriller. And while respecting the confidentiality demanded of UN appointees, it is a stunning revelation of their everyday work, both at the ICTY’s seat in The Hague, and on various locations throughout Yugoslavia.
John’s ultimate goal, and that of his fellow international war crimes investigators coming from no less than fifty different countries, was to link senior political and military figures with the many crimes committed throughout the former Yugoslavia. A once solid, multi-ethnic federation, which in the 1990s was torn apart by brutal inter-ethnic conflicts, became the scene of atrocities at a level not seen in Europe since World War II. I need not list them. The Devil’s Garden provides a nailing account of the “crimes against humanity” that were committed by regular military forces, paramilitary militias, police, and even by individuals who, all of a sudden, turned against their former friends and neighbours.
As the only non-member of the Office of the Prosecutor authorized to attend the daily morning briefings at the ICTY, I saw firsthand the hard work of the war crimes investigators, although operational matters were never discussed, for obvious reasons. But there is nothing like having actually been there. The Devil’s Garden provides an in- side look of the world of war crimes investigators and their genuine investigative acumen, diplomatic skills, resilience, imagination, and above all else their unsurpassed compassion for the victims and their families.
The Devil’s Garden helped me gain a better understanding of why the ICTY’s pioneering investigative and prosecutorial work has become a blueprint for all subsequent international courts, such as the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. This is what makes reading this book fascinating! As war crimes investigators, their work, as John so eloquently says, allowed them to “look inside the spirits of the dead and expose the hearts of the killers.” His tremendous account of the missions and the intricate undertakings of war crimes investigators fully captures this essence through a breathlessly written book that reads like a novel, although there is no fiction here!
By sharing, with full honesty, his own experiences as an international crimes expert, John provides unprecedented insight into what investigating war crimes actually means and takes. You will be flabbergasted and fascinated! You will see how complex cases made their way from the “killing fields” to the courtroom as the result of the incredibly patient and determined efforts of UN war crimes investigators.
In addition to paying one of the best services ever rendered to the ICTY in particular, and international criminal justice at large, this page-turner provides a compelling professional perspective that helps vindicate the need for international criminal tribunals and their fight to bring war criminals to justice. In addition, the harmonious manner by which John intertwines his own ancestral background in the narrative provides a unique human dimension to this story, which leaves the reader with the profound, universal awareness that we are all part of a much larger world.
However, moving beyond his personal experiences, it is fittingly conspicuous that John gives credit to the many wonderful and dedicated war crimes investigators, international prosecutors, analysts, and other colleagues who worked together for the noble cause of international justice, peace, and security.
As one of his many colleagues and friends, I am privileged and honoured to have been extended such confidence to write this foreword to a must-read book that tells an exceptional and unique “War Crimes Investigator’s Story.”
Christian Chartier
Chief Spokesperson (1994–1998)
Chief, Public Information (1998–2010)
United Nations–Nations Unies
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Tribunal Pénal International pour l’ex-Yougoslavie
Crimes Against Humanity
