ICTY: Urgent Action For Stay of International Personnel
This post is also available in: Bosnian
“Unless this issue is urgently solved, ongoing war-crimes trials and investigations may be endangered. This would also have serious consequences for the work of the Tribunal. Urgent action is needed,” Brammertz said.
Brammertz and Patrick Robinson, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, presented to the Security Council a semi-annual report on the progress made in implementation of the Tribunal’s exit strategy.
The Chief Prosecutor said that the former Yugoslav countries still face significant obstacles and challenges in the field of war-crimes processing, adding that the ban on extraditing citizens to other countries has hampered investigations and trials, while legal barriers for transferring war-crimes cases from one country to another exist.
In addition to the above, Brammertz informed the Council that that referral of materials pertaining to investigations to local prosecutors would soon be completed, adding that in this way 17 files, referring to 43 suspects, would be handed over to the countries of former Yugoslavia.
In his address to the Security Council, the Chief ICTY Prosecutor announced possible changes to the indictment against Ratko Mladic, former Commander of the General Headquarters of the Republika Srpska Army, who has been on the run for more than a decade.
“The recent beginning of the trial of Radovan Karadzic reminds us of the fact that Ratko Mladic is still on the run and that he should appear before the Trial Chamber, together with Karadzic. Legal experts of the Prosecution are currently reviewing the indictment against Mladic, also considering the possibility of changing it in the near future,” Brammertz said.
The ICTY President warned the Council about the fact that Mladic and Goran Hadzic, who is charged with crimes committed in Croatia, are still at liberty, which represents a serious obstacle to completing the mandate of the Tribunal.
“If they are not arrested, the historic contribution of the Security Council to building peace in the former Yugoslavia will be undermined,” Robinson said.
Besides this, the President called on the Security Council to provide help by ensuring measures for retaining qualified personnel, pointing out that, due to the search for permanent employment, “the Tribunal, on average, loses one staff member every working day”.
“The situation is such that there is a real risk in terms of the ability of the Tribunal to perform its job in an expeditious and unbiased manner for the rest of its mandate,” Robinson said.
The President repeated his call for ensuring compensation for war-crimes victims, adding that justice does not comprise only punishment, but also the “reestablishment of victims’ dignity” by making sure that they have concrete resources to rebuild their lives.
In conclusion, Robinson reminded the Council that, according to the latest estimates, it is expected that all trials will be completed by mid 2011, except for the trial of Radovan Karadzic, which is to be completed in 2012. In Karadzic’s case, the appellate procedure would be finished by February 2014, while all other appellate procedures would be completed in 2013.
Radovan Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska and Supreme Commander of its armed forces, is charged with numerous crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the course of the war. His trial began in late October this year. It is due to continue on March 1, 2010.
