ICTY: International staff to stay in Sarajevo

Fausto Pocar, ICTY president, wrote a letter expressing his support for an initiative to extend the mandate of internationally-appointed judges and prosecutors at the Court and Prosecution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

President Pocar wrote a letter to the High Representative, state minister of justice, president of the State court, chief prosecutor and president of High Judicial and Prosecutors’ Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“This metre is of particular significance for the International Tribunal, which has vested interest in ensuring that its mission to fight impunity will be continued through the prosecution of war crimes cases by domestic institutions in the region of the former Yugoslavia, and particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” letter said.

Pocar also stressed that significant progress is visible in straightening the judiciary system in the country but “this process is far from completed and remains particularly fragile.”

“Internationally appointed judges and prosecutors have made a crucial contribution to the development and consolidation of the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have played a major part in capacity-building of judicial institution at the State level helping, for instance, Bosnian judges in the complex and novel process of implementing international legal forms in domestic cases,” wrote Pocar.

He also considers that presence of international staff at the State court and Prosecution office have had a “major effect” on the population’s trust in the judiciary system and “the ability of the judiciary to stand strong against politically-tainted attacks on its work.”

Pocar wrote also that concern for the extension of the international judges and prosecutors was expressed to him during his visit in May this year by victim’s groups who showed concern that their departure would “negatively impact the willingness of witnesses to testify before the Court.”

In the letter Pocar said that their departure could cause “serious practical issues” too.

According to the plan for transition, international staff should leave the Court and the Prosecution by the end of 2009, which is for Pocar “premature”.

Extension of their mandate was initiated by President of the Court judge Meddzida Kreso. Support to this idea was given also by deputy chief prosecutor David Schwendmen who wrote about it in the draft of the National War Crimes Strategy.