Post by Dinko on Oct 10, 2003 9:37:09 GMT
Balkan U.N. prosecutor raps Serbia and Croatia
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By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The chief prosecutor of the U.N. tribunal for the Balkans said on Thursday that Serbia, Croatia, Bosnian Serbs and Croats had failed to cooperate fully with the court in surrendering war criminals and documents.
In testimony before the U.N. Security Council, Carla Del Ponte said Croatia had shown considerable cooperation except when it came to arresting Gen. Ante Gotovina, indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for atrocities against rebel Serbs.
The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information on Gotovina. Croatia, Del Ponte said, had provided information on him that was well-known and outdated.
Relations between the tribunal and Serbia were still spotty in retracing actions during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Del Ponte said.
"Our cooperation with Belgrade remains very difficult and heavily politicized, whether in regard to arrests and transfer of fugitives, or access to documents and waivers for high-level witnesses," she said.
Del Ponte said Belgrade authorities were unanimous in stressing the necessity to cooperate with the tribunal. But when it came to tough decisions "we face obstruction," including handing over documents in the ongoing trial in The Hague of the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic.
Among the 17 remaining fugitives, she said well over half, including Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime military commander, were in Serbia.
In Bosnia, the Serb-run Republika Srpska had not lifted a finger to arrest fugitives, especially the civilian Bosnian Serb wartime leader, Radovan Karadzic, who was known to float between that territory and Montenegro, Del Ponte said.
And Bosnian Croats, she said, had engaged in "deceitful denial" on needed documents.
In response, Dejan Sahovic, the U.N. ambassador for Serbia and Montenegro, said more than 5,000 classified documents had been delivered to the tribunal as well as several high-level officials. He said Del Ponte's charges were "not helpful" and a matter of perception rather than fact.
Croatia's ambassador, Vladimir Drobnjak, indicated Gotovina might no longer be in Croatia, saying his government could not act "outside its sovereign territory." He urged the tribunal to end its work on schedule and pledged full cooperation.
The tribunal is to complete indictments next year and wind up its trials by 2008 and appeals by 2010. But Judge Theodor Meron, president of the U.N. court, said much depended on how soon the 17 fugitives could be brought to trial.
He also told the council that another 30 people were expected to be charged by Del Ponte, and they probably could not be brought to trial within the agreed timeframe.
Meron noted that 62 cases would be transferred to national courts and said the council had to be satisfied these tribunals conformed to international standards.
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By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The chief prosecutor of the U.N. tribunal for the Balkans said on Thursday that Serbia, Croatia, Bosnian Serbs and Croats had failed to cooperate fully with the court in surrendering war criminals and documents.
In testimony before the U.N. Security Council, Carla Del Ponte said Croatia had shown considerable cooperation except when it came to arresting Gen. Ante Gotovina, indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for atrocities against rebel Serbs.
The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information on Gotovina. Croatia, Del Ponte said, had provided information on him that was well-known and outdated.
Relations between the tribunal and Serbia were still spotty in retracing actions during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Del Ponte said.
"Our cooperation with Belgrade remains very difficult and heavily politicized, whether in regard to arrests and transfer of fugitives, or access to documents and waivers for high-level witnesses," she said.
Del Ponte said Belgrade authorities were unanimous in stressing the necessity to cooperate with the tribunal. But when it came to tough decisions "we face obstruction," including handing over documents in the ongoing trial in The Hague of the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic.
Among the 17 remaining fugitives, she said well over half, including Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime military commander, were in Serbia.
In Bosnia, the Serb-run Republika Srpska had not lifted a finger to arrest fugitives, especially the civilian Bosnian Serb wartime leader, Radovan Karadzic, who was known to float between that territory and Montenegro, Del Ponte said.
And Bosnian Croats, she said, had engaged in "deceitful denial" on needed documents.
In response, Dejan Sahovic, the U.N. ambassador for Serbia and Montenegro, said more than 5,000 classified documents had been delivered to the tribunal as well as several high-level officials. He said Del Ponte's charges were "not helpful" and a matter of perception rather than fact.
Croatia's ambassador, Vladimir Drobnjak, indicated Gotovina might no longer be in Croatia, saying his government could not act "outside its sovereign territory." He urged the tribunal to end its work on schedule and pledged full cooperation.
The tribunal is to complete indictments next year and wind up its trials by 2008 and appeals by 2010. But Judge Theodor Meron, president of the U.N. court, said much depended on how soon the 17 fugitives could be brought to trial.
He also told the council that another 30 people were expected to be charged by Del Ponte, and they probably could not be brought to trial within the agreed timeframe.
Meron noted that 62 cases would be transferred to national courts and said the council had to be satisfied these tribunals conformed to international standards.