Top UN court rules Serbia did not commit genocide

THE HAGUE, Feb 26 (Reuters) The top UN court ruled today that Serbia did not commit genocide through the killing that ravaged Bosnia during the 1992-95 war, but said Serbia had failed in its obligation to prevent and punish genocide.

The International Court of Justice President Judge Rosalyn Higgins said: ''The court finds by 13 votes to 2 that Serbia has not committed genocide''.

This is the first time a state has been on trial for genocide, outlawed in a UN convention in 1948 after the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews.

Although the killing of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men in Srebrenica did constitute genocide, Serbia was not responsible and was not complicit in the massacre, Judge Higgins said.

REUTERS PB PM1737