This study explores discourses about involvement in violent intergroup conflict and international crimes from
the perspective of perpetrators. Through a critical discourse analysis of 12 personal interviews carried out
with individuals accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for crimes
committed during the Yugoslav conflicts, we uncover how their discourse reveals conceptions of lacking agency
and powerlessness during the conflict, how it reconstructs power relationships within and between ethnic
groups, and how it reflects identity management strategies destined to elude blame and responsibility. Our
findings demonstrate how discourses are tainted by the legitimizing framework in which the conflict unfolded
but also how they are shaped by the particular context of the communicative situation. Findings are discussed
in terms of their significance for international criminal justice and its stated objectives.