( CNN ) Serbian forces committed egregious violent acts against ethnic Croatians in the early 1990s , but they do n't equate to genocide , a U.N. court ruled Tuesday . The 153-page ruling from the International Court of Justice means that modern-day Serbia will not have to pay restitution to Croatia , which in 1991 split from what was then Yugoslavia . The decision relates only to the two national governments ' responsibility to one another , not the culpability of any individuals for targeting members of an ethnic group . Such individual cases are handled by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ( ICTY ) , another U.N. court . `` Croatia has not established that the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from the ( Serbians ' ) pattern of conduct ... was the intent to destroy , in whole or in part , the Croat group , '' the International Court of Justice ( or ICJ ) ruled . `` ... It follows ... Croatia has failed to substantiate its allegation that genocide was committed . '' In addition to dismissing Croatia 's case that its citizens had been victims of genocide , the ICJ also rebuffed Serbia 's counterclaim that Croatian forces had committed genocide against its own citizens . This all relates to what happened in the 1990s , in the bloody aftermath of Yugoslavia splintering into separate nations . Many of the most horrific allegations have been levied against those aligned with the Yugoslavia government -- the closest equivalent to what is now the Republic of Serbia -- for its actions in Kosovo and Bosnia . In fact , several Serbians have been charged with genocide , though none yet specifically tied to actions inside Croatia . They include Radislav Krstic , sentenced to 46 years after the ICTY convicted him in relation to a five-day slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslims in the town of Srebrenica in what 's been called the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II . Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by a U.N. tribunal when he was charged with 66 counts for crimes against humanity , genocide , and war crimes , though he was found dead in his cell before his years-long trial in front of the ICTY finished . Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is still on trial for two genocide charges and nine others related to ethnic violence during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s . When Ratko Mladic 's own trial on 11 counts of genocide , war crimes and crimes against humanity opened in 2012 , the former general -- who is accused of orchestrating a horrific campaign of ethnic cleansing -- showed no remorse , even appearing to threaten victims in court . Yet even as such individual cases push forward , courts have been reluctant to hold governments involved in the conflict directly responsible for genocide . In 2007 , for instance , the International Court of Justice acquitted Serbia of committing genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina . But , in the same ruling , the U.N. court did find Serbia guilty of failing to prevent genocide in Srebrenica . Tuesday 's ICJ ruling relates specifically to what Serbian forces did in Croatia between 1991 and 1995 . The violence began when Serbian troops went into Croatia ostensibly to aid armed ethnic Serbians trying to create their own autonomous states there . The U.N. court considered reams of evidence , from both sides , about what happened in the years that followed . And some of what happened , the U.N. court ruled , was consistent with genocide . For example , the ICJ found Serbian and allied forces responsible for a `` large number of killings '' that disproportionately affected Croats , `` which suggests that they may have been systematically targeted . '' The forces also `` injured ( ethnic Croatians ) and perpetrated acts of ill-treatment , torture , sexual violence and rape ( that contributed ) to the physical or biological destruction of the protected group , '' according to the court . Croats were singled out in other less lethal ways , like restricting their movement to create `` a climate of coercion and terror '' and spur them to leave , the ICJ said . The court did n't find sufficient evidence , however , to implicate Serbian forces on other grounds , like depriving Croatians of food and medical care . But even if some of the acts could fall under the umbrella of genocide , there must be evidence of intent -- that the forces went in aiming to destroy a group of people -- in order for these actions to be labeled genocide under the so-called Genocide Convention , which dates to 1948 . That was not proven , in the eyes of the International Court of Justice . `` In view of the fact that dolus specialis has been established by Croatia , '' the court said , using the legal term for a specific intent , `` its claims of conspiracy to commit genocide , direct and public incitement to commit genocide and attempt to commit genocide also necessarily fail . `` Accordingly , Croatia 's claim must be dismissed in its entirety . ''
A U.N. court ruled that Serbian forces did commit large - scale killings , other violent acts . But there 's not enough evidence showing intent to commit genocide , the court rules . The same court dismisses Serbia 's claim that Croatia committed genocide .