The Commission for Truth and Reconciliation in Yugoslavia was created in March 2001 through a mandate from President Vojislav Kostunica.
[1] The Commission was eventually tasked with investigating the causes of conflicts in the territories of the Former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The Commission had planned to fully cooperate with the ICTY and briefly entertained the idea of holding regional hearings throughout the former republic to gather evidence.
This effectively ended the Commission as it relied on a mandate from the president of Yugoslavia, an office that no longer existed.
[1] The “Yugoslav idea” developed out of a desire expressed by Serbs and Croats to be independent from the former Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
[3] During the years of the Kosovo Conflict (1998–99), Yugoslavia saw a dramatic increase in anti-Serb propaganda which caused Serbs to react violently towards other ethnic groups, mostly Albanians.
The Kosovo region was historically and culturally significant to Serbs and needed to remain a part of Yugoslavia.
On April 1, 2001 Yugoslavian authorities arrested Milošević on charges of corruption and abuse of power.
[1] Eventually the Commission was tasked with investigating the "causes and the course of events of all conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
The Commission stated that it would work in full compliance with the ICTY and raised the idea of holding regional hearings across the former republic.
They also remarked on the fact that three years is an unusually long time for a truth commission to last.