Justice and War Crimes
In “Justice and War Crimes”, author Graham Blewitt offers an insider’s perspective on the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of tue UN International Crime Tribunal.
The book steps out the early years of the OTP, from its creation in 1994 through to 2004, as it saw the apprehension, indictment, and prosecution of heinous war criminals.
It follows the murky path created by those who did not want to see NATO becoming involved in the apprehension of indicted war criminals. It describes how, faced with the prospects of a complete failure, the OTP brought about the apprehension of every living person indicted by the Tribunal and prevented the outbreak of war in North Macedonia.
Justice and War Crimes tells the untold story of a pivotal moment in the history of international justice and is a timely reminder of the difficulties and complexities involved in the prosecution of modern war crimes.
Author Bio
Graham Blewitt
Graham Blewitt AM lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife. He has three children and four grandchildren.
He commenced his legal career in 1965 in what is now the Office of the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions where he was involved in the prosecution of serious criminal cases in that State. During his twenty one years in that Office he spent three years seconded as the Professional Assistant to the Solicitor General and Crown Advocate. He was also the State’s Legal Adviser to a number of drug task forces and a joint Commonwealth/State prosecution team tasked with bringing to justice members of what was known as the “Mr Asia” drug syndicate.
In 1985 he joined the National Crime Authority in Sydney where he was initially a Team Leader and then the Senior Legal Adviser. In 1987 he joined the Special Investigations Unit (Nazi war criminals in Australia), becoming the Unit’s Director in 1991 until January 1994.
From 1994 to 2004 he was the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague.
On his return to Australia he was appointed as a New South Wales Magistrate in 2005 and spent twelve years working in the Children’s Court in the Illawarra area and in Campbelltown, prior to his retirement in 2019.
In 2000 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to International Humanitarian law, particularly in the area of war crimes investigations.
