There is Something Special about War Criminals ...: Constructing and Assessing the Rehabilitation of War Criminals at the ICTY/IRMCT and in Croatia.

This article examines how the rehabilitation of perpetrators of international crimes is constructed and assessed domestically in Croatia compared to international practices at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). While the IRMCT has recently adopted a sui generis approach emphasizing offenders' critical reflection on their crimes, full acceptance of responsibility, and the gravity of offenses as key to early release decisions, Croatian courts continue to apply conventional rehabilitation criteria focused primarily on risk of reoffending and good behavior in prison. The Croatian approach lacks tailored rehabilitation programs for war criminals and shows inconsistencies, including potential ethnic biases affecting early release outcomes, with Serb offenders facing stricter assessments than Croat offenders. The article highlights a significant divergence between international and domestic practices and calls for further research on rehabilitation frameworks and potential biases in post-conviction processes.