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The Tribunal's Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, addressed today the UN Security Council and provided her regular report on the progress made on the completion strategy. In view of her departure at the end of the year, this was Carla Del Ponte's last report to the Security Council in her capacity as Prosecutor of the ICTY.
In her address, the Prosecutor focused on what she referred to as the most important topic of her report - cooperation provided by Serbia as it relates to the search for remaining fugitives. She stressed that contrary to the hopes she had earlier this year that Ratko Mladić would finally be arrested, this fugitive was still at large and there was still no full cooperation of Serbia with the Office of the Prosecutor.
The Prosecutor reiterated that the fact that Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, indicted for genocide and believed responsible for the worst crimes committed in Europe since the Second World War are still fugitives is a stain on the International Tribunal's work and undermines the very idea of international justice.
Carla Del Ponte informed the Council that despite the Serbian authorities' declared commitment to fully cooperate with the Office of the Prosecutor and some improved procedures, there was no clear roadmap, no clear plan, no reliable leads and no sign that serious efforts have been taken to arrest the fugitives.
In view of this, Prosecutor Del Ponte urged the international community to seriously address the issue. She particularly asked the European Union Member States and the EU Commission to maintain their principled position by insisting on Serbia's full cooperation with the International Tribunal as a condition in the EU pre-accession and accession process and stressed that full cooperation signified the arrest and transfer of Ratko Mladić. She also said that the EU conditionality has in recent years been the most effective tool to obtain the transfer of ICTY fugitives and expressed her conviction that the arrest of the remaining four fugitives will only be achieved if this policy is upheld.
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The full text of the Prosecutor's speech can be found on the Tribunal's website at:
In English
In French
The full report of the Completion Strategy Assessment can be found on the Tribunal's website at:
In English: http://www.un.org/icty/publications-e/index.htm
In French: http://www.un.org/icty/publications-f/index.htm
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