ICTY Weekly Press Briefing - 13th Jun 2007

ICTY Weekly Press Briefing

Date: 13.06.2007

Time: 13:00

Registry and Chambers:

Refik Hodžć, Spokesman for Registry and Chambers, made the following statement:

The Tribunal has today held a Diplomatic seminar for representatives of embassies and diplomatic missions in The Netherlands. The aim of the Seminar was to ensure that member states remain well informed about the Tribunal’s activities and future plans. The representatives were addressed by the President of the Tribunal, Judge Fausto Pocar, the Registrar, Mr. Hans Holthuis and the Prosecutor, Ms. Carla del Ponte. Judge Pocar provided an overview of the Tribunal’s judicial activities over the past months and the internal measures being taken to increase the efficiency of proceedings.

In addressing the issue of the remaining fugitives, President Pocar welcomed the recent arrest of Zdravko Tolimir. However, he again expressed the Tribunal’s grave concern with the failure of states to arrest the five remaining high level fugitives at large in the region. “The Tribunal’s mission will not be complete without these accused, especially Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, being brought to justice. If they are not, the international community will be sending a message that it tolerates impunity and gross violations of international humanitarian law,” said Pocar.

He concluded by emphasisng the efficiency of Tribunal’s proceedings and increase in its productivity without sacrificing due process guarantees. President Pocar stated that “without taking away from the importance of successfully meeting proposed Completion Strategy deadlines, it is clear that the Tribunal’s legacy will be about much more than the efficiency of its administration and the expeditiousness of it proceedings. In this respect I would note the important confirmation by the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro) of 26 February 2007, that genocide was committed in Srebrenica and its reliance on the jurisprudence of this Tribunal in so doing.”

The Registrar brought the representatives up-to-date on a number of vital issues concerning the smooth functioning of the ICTY: the budget; staff retention; enforcement of sentences and witness relocation; and residual issues and ICTY legacy. Referring to the issue of enforcement of sentences Mr. Holthuis stated that “the Registry focuses its negotiation efforts mainly towards the European States which are not yet assisting the Tribunal with the enforcement of sentences. In this regard I would like to express my gratitude to Belgium , Slovakia and Ukraine ; negotiations with these countries were concluded recently, and the agreement with Belgium has already been signed.”

The full texts of all three speeches, in both English and French, can be found on the ICTY website at the links mentioned below.

On Monday, President Pocar will be in New York to present his report to the Security Council on the progress of the Tribunal’s work. During his presentation, Judge Pocar will highlight the most significant points made in his report on the Tribunal’s Completion Strategy, which was submitted to the Members of the Council on 15 May 2007 . He will also highlight new developments that have occurred at the Tribunal since the report’s submission.

On 19 June a meeting will be held to discuss the issues related to the legacy of international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda . Presidents, prosecutors and registrars of the two tribunals will meet with the members of the Security Council’s working group on international tribunals to discuss issues related to residual judicial mechanisms, archives and other legacy issues.

SCHEDULE:

All on-going trials will continue this and next week. Please check the schedule on our website for the details.

Office of the Prosecutor:

Olga Kavran, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor, made the following statement:

As you know, the Prosecutor was in Belgrade last week on the official invitation of the President of Serbia. This was the first time in her 8 years at the Tribunal that the Chief Prosecutor was officially invited to visit Serbia .

The Prosecutor met with the President, Prime Minister and many other officials, both at the political and the operational level, who are involved in the issues of cooperation with the Tribunal . They all assured her that the achievement of full cooperation with the ICTY, which includes the arrest and transfer of all remaining fugitives, is one of the top priorities of the new government. Some concrete steps have also been taken in the last two weeks: Zdravko Tolimir, one of the most wanted fugitives was arrested and transferred due to the close cooperation between the authorities of Serbia and Republika Srpska, and the Serbian authorities have delivered a large number of documents in response to OTP’s outstanding requests. The Prosecutor was therefore able to make a positive assessment to the European Enlargement Commissioner Rehn and was informed that the SAA negotiations have resumed.

However, whereas the Prosecutor welcomes these positive steps in cooperation, she would like to remind everyone that full cooperation still includes the arrest and transfer of Ratko Mladić and the remaining fugitives as soon as possible so that the Tribunal may fulfil its mandate. The Prosecutor will closely monitor these developments and continue to do everything in her power so that the remaining fugitives are brought into the Tribunal’s custody before the end of her term in office.

In her address at today’s Diplomatic Seminar, the Prosecutor highlighted the progress of the Office of the Prosecutor’s trial and appeals work, the transfer of cases and investigation files to national jurisdictions, and the present situation relating to the remaining fugitives.

Tomorrow, the Prosecutor will be in Budapest to receive the Central European University Open Society Prize in recognition of her contribution to the process of achieving justice for victims of serious violations of international humanitarian law. Previous recipients of the Prize include the eminent philosopher Sir Karl Popper and former President of the Czech Republic and renowned writer Vaclav Havel.

Next week, the Prosecutor will also be in New York to deliver the bi-annual report on the Completion Strategy to the United Nations Security Council and to take part in the Legacy Working Group. This will be her final report to the Security Council before she leaves office in September.

Questions:

There were no questions.

Documents:

French:

http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2007/june-reg-f.htm (for Registrar)

http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2007/june-pres-f.htm (for President)

http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2007/june-pros-f.htm (for Prosecutor)

English:

http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2007/june-reg-e.htm (for Registrar)

http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2007/june-pres-e.htm (for President)

http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2007/june-pros-e.htm (for Prosecutor)