Fact
File
International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Don't
close the doors to justice
There
cannot be reconciliation and sustainable peace in former
Yugoslavia without justice for the victims of the wars
in the 1990s, Amnesty International said today. The organisation
calls on the UN Security Council to extend the mandate
of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia
beyond the date of 2010 set under the Tribunal's "completion
strategy" and provide sufficient funds for it to
carry out its mandate effectively.
"Thousands
of people are yet to be tried for the war crimes, crimes
against humanity and genocide committed during the violent
break-up of Yugoslavia. Hundreds of thousands of refugees
are still not able to return to their homes and to obtain
full compensation for the damage," Nicola Duckworth,
Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central
Asia Programme, said as the Security Council prepares
to consider reports by the Tribunal President and Prosecutor
on the implementation of the "completion strategy".
The
Tribunal has played a major role in addressing impunity
for such crimes and, through its judgements and decisions,
has contributed significantly to the development of international,
humanitarian and criminal law. Yet to date only 37 people
have received a final sentence for their crimes in the
Yugoslav wars. Under the "completion strategy",
laid down by the Security Council, the Tribunal has completed
all investigations and indictments for war crimes, crimes
against humanity and genocide at the end of 2004 and is
expected to complete all cases, including appeals, by
2010. Prosecutors have recently asked for the transfer
of 18 cases to local courts in the former Yugoslavia,
a step that appears to be dictated by the tight deadline
imposed by the "completion strategy".
"While
Amnesty International welcomes the recent surrender of
a number of prominent indictees to the Tribunal including
for the first time from the Republika Srpska, ten people
publicly indicted by the Tribunal are still at large.
Three of them, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Ante
Gotovina, are key indictees mentioned repeatedly in Security
Council resolutions. The Tribunal's Prosecutor has clearly
stated that if they are not arrested and transferred in
the months to come, it may be necessary to revise the
target dates of the 'completion strategy'," Nicola
Duckworth said.
Amnesty
International believes that the Tribunal's "completion
strategy" appears to be mostly dictated by financial
constraints influenced by a changing geopolitical setting,
and based on the assumption that local courts in former
Yugoslav countries have the capacity to continue the Tribunal's
tasks. It believes that the target date of 2010, when
the Tribunal is expected to complete its work, may seriously
compromise the delivery of justice, and urges that the
"completion strategy" should be reviewed as
it ignores crucial facts:
Countries
in the former Yugoslavia have failed to abide by their
obligation to arrest and surrender indicted suspects or
to provide other assistance to the Tribunal. There continues
to be a lack of political will to investigate all crimes
committed during the violent break-up of Yugoslavia and
to prosecute all suspects.
Domestic
legal frameworks define crimes and principles of criminal
responsibility in a manner that is inconsistent with international
law and with the Statute of the Tribunal. Victim and witness
protection is generally non-existent or insufficient to
permit effective investigations or successful prosecutions.
Provisions on reparations, including compensation to victims
and families of the victims, are inadequate.
They
urge the Security Council and UN member states to extend
the Tribunal activities beyond the originally set deadline
of 2010; to ensure that the Tribunal's budget is adequate
to its task; and to develop a long-term, comprehensive
action plan to end impunity in the countries of the former
Yugoslavia.
Source:
Amnesty International.
Court
probes Sudan 'war crimes'
Some
two million people have fled their homes in Darfur, the
UN says. The International Criminal Court has announced
an inquiry into alleged war crimes in west Sudan's Darfur
region. The Hague court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno
Ocampo, said it was launching what will be the ICC's biggest
investigation.
The
BBC's Martin Lumb says this is the first time the court
has used its right to pursue a case where a host state
is thought unwilling or unable to do so. A special UN
inquiry has given the ICC the names of 51 potential suspects.
The UN says about 180,000 people have died in the two-year
Darfur conflict. It says more than two million people
have been forced to leave their homes in the region.
The
announcement by Mr Ocampo comes two months after the situation
in Darfur was referred to the ICC following a vote at
the UN Security Council - the first time the council has
referred a case to the ICC.
It
is to be mentioned that International Criminal Court is
first permanent court to try individuals for genocide,
war crimes and other human rights violations. Rome Statute
set up in July 1998, when 120 countries adopted the treaty
came into force in April 2002 after ratification by 60
countries.
Uganda
and DR Congo investigations began in 2004.
The ICC statement said the investigation would be based
on thousands of documents received by the court and interviews
with more than 50 independent experts. "The investigation
will require sustained co-operation from national and
international authorities," Mr Ocampo said in the
statement. "It will form part of a collective effort,
complementing African Union and other initiatives to end
the violence in Darfur and to promote justice.
"Traditional
African mechanisms can be an important tool to complement
these efforts and achieve local reconciliation."
The correspondent says that by launching the investigation
now the court has rejected more cautious advice that the
case should wait until the conflict is completely resolved.
Other
trials will be held later this year against alleged perpetrators
of war crimes in two other African nations, Uganda and
Congo. However, in these cases the governments themselves
turned to The Hague for justice.
The
Sudanese ambassador in the UK, Hassan Abdin, told the
BBC his government would stick to a decision taken immediately
after the Security Council resolution not to hand over
its citizens for trial abroad. But he said Khartoum was
willing to discuss with ICC prosecutors requests to try
suspects inside the country.
The
Security Council cited allegations of rape, murder and
plunder in Darfur. The New York-based Human Rights Watch
group said the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum have not
taken any meaningful steps to bring to account those responsible
for the alleged crimes.
The
referral to the court was made possible when the US -
which opposes the ICC - backed away from using its veto
power as the Council's permanent member. The US has expressed
its concerns that the court could bring bogus charges
against American nationals. Washington has already signed
nearly 100 bilateral treaties with countries that have
agreed not to surrender US citizens to the ICC. However,
99 countries have ratified the court's founding treaty,
including all of Washington's major allies in Europe.
Source:
BBC News.
