Professor Dermot Groome discusses Ratko Mladić’s death on the BBC

CARLISLE, PA—Professor Dermot Groome appeared on the BBC on August 27, 2026, to share his insights and analysis following the death of Ratko Mladić, a former Bosnian Serb general convicted of committing genocide during the Balkan Wars. Groome served as lead prosecutor for the international tribunal during Mladić’s war crimes trial.

“I think it's a good thing that the thousands of victims and survivors who saw Mladić kill their relatives with his hands, with his commands, that they know he died in a jail cell and was held to answer for his grave crimes,” said Groome. “I hope that it reaffirms the importance of international justice and reinvigorates the United States’ commitment to it.”

BBC Presenter Carl Nasman asked Groome about his impressions of Mladić and whether he exhibited remorse for his actions.

“There's one moment that sticks in my mind that really speaks volumes about him,” Groome said. “Our evidence in the Srebrenica case was that he gave the command for the killing of over 7,000 men by drawing his hand just across [his neck] like that, and on the day of the opening of the trial, the survivors, the mothers and wives of the Srebrenica victims, were in the courtroom, and he looked at them, and he did this. He drew his finger across his neck, and to me, that spoke volumes about the type of person he is and his disregard for humanity.”

Nasman closed the interview by asking Groome about the importance of upholding war crime accountability and preserving the rule of international law in light of the Trump administration’s recent actions aimed at dismantling the International Criminal Court.

“The U.S. has been the leader in this for a very long time since Nuremberg. The leader in the movement towards international justice. Without it, Nuremberg wouldn't have happened. Without the U.S. support and guidance, the tribunals that I worked in and other tribunals wouldn't have happened, so it's very sad for me to see now,” Groome said.

Professor Dermot Groome is a Professor of Law and the Harvey A. Feldman Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law. Much of his teaching, scholarship, and service focus on emerging areas of human rights and international criminal law and draw upon his deep expertise and experiences. After starting his career in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he was a member of the Sex Crimes Unit, and after working in Jamaica, W.I. on issues of community development, human rights, and children’s rights, Professor Groome worked in Cambodia. While in Cambodia, he served as a Legal Advisor to the International Human Rights Law Group, helped lead an investigation into a 1997 attack on peaceful protestors and drafted a report for the UN Security Council, helped the Cambodia Defender’s Project and Legal Aid of Cambodia investigate deaths in police custody, worked on issues related to the incarceration of children, and wrote a draft juvenile criminal procedure code. Professor Groome subsequently spent over 11 years as a senior war crimes prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He investigated and drafted the first genocide indictment against a sitting head of state, Slobodan Milošević, and was the Senior Trial Attorney for the Bosnia indictment. In total, Groome led the prosecution of five international criminal trials including the case against Ratko Mladić, who was convicted of genocide for the murder of over 7,000 men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. He led eight large complex international investigations of senior military, political, and police officials. Groome’s cases all included crimes of sexual violence against women, men, and children. He was instrumental in the development of Joint Criminal Enterprise, a theory of criminal responsibility often used to assess the culpability of senior officials for the crimes committed by their subordinates. Two documentaries have been made about Professor Groome’s cases: The Trial of Ratko Mladić (PBS/Frontline 2019) and  Crimes Before the ICTY: Višegrad (UN TV 2017).