New York, 19 November 1998
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf
of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated
with the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania,
Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the associated country Cyprus,
as well as the EFTA countries members of the EEA, Iceland and Liechtenstein,
align themselves with this statement.
Under agenda item 48 the General Assembly
has again before it, as in previous years, a note by the Secretary-General
(A/53/219) transmitting the fifth annual report of the International Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia.
The European Union would first like
to thank the President of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,
Madame Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, for her introduction of this report. We
would like to congratulate Madame Kirk McDonald on her election to the
Presidency of the Tribunal and by the same token express our gratitude
to the former President, Professor Antonio Cassese, for the leadership
he provided during the Tribunal’s initial years.
Both through its analysis and the details
it provides, the report gives us a clear and complete picture of the activities
of the Tribunal between 1 August 1997 and 27 July 1998. We congratulate
the President, the Judges, the Prosecutor and officers of the Tribunal
on the important work they have accomplished. The European Union would
also like to express its appreciation for the contribution that the Netherlands,
as host country, continues to make to the Tribunal’s activities. The European
Union is not less appreciative of the various important contributions,
in money and in kind, or by making available needed staff to the Tribunal,
which other Governments have made during the period covered by the report.
Mr. President,
As the report shows, at the end of
its fifth year the Tribunal has made further progress. Through Security
Council resolution 827 (1993) the international community established jurisdictional
mechanisms to put an end to the situation of impunity enjoyed by too many
perpetrators of serious crimes, breaches of international humanitarian
law committed during the years of conflict in the former Yugoslavia. The
proper functioning of the Tribunal is crucial for the full implementation
of the peace accords in the former Yugoslavia and their follow-up. With
very few exceptions, which will be referred to later, States have established
a good basis for cooperation with the Tribunal.
In that respect the European Union
observes that according to the Tribunal’s own opinion the events and developments
of the past year, as reflected in the report, have resulted in a fully
fledged international criminal judicial institution with the infrastructure,
prosecutorial, judicial and administrative mechanisms required by its mandate.
The past year has indeed been characterized by the unprecedented growth
of the institution and its activities thus demonstrating that - as the
Tribunal puts it - „international criminal justice is indeed an achievable
goal“. Inasmuch the Tribunal constituted an important precedent for the
establishment of a general international criminal jurisdiction which augurs
well for the coming to life of the International Criminal Court created
through the adoption of the Rome Statute on 17 July of this year. Indeed,
the work, the actual activity and the experience of the International Tribunal
for Yugoslavia and of its sister institution, the Rwanda Tribunal, will
provide a valuable source for the establishment of the system of rules,
procedural and otherwise, which should make it possible to prosecute and
punish, at the international level, serious violations of humanitarian
law, no matter where they may occur or by whom those crimes may be committed.
In this connection one has to underline the importance of appropriate access
of victims to the Tribunal and of their protection.
Mr. President,
The EU welcomes the establishment by
the Tribunal of a third Chamber. The judges who will serve on that chamber
where elected by the General Assembly on 16 October 1998. Furthermore,
the Tribunal has reviewed its Rules of Procedure and Evidence and has amended
a significant number of them, adding five new Rules. All this should facilitate
and accelerate the work of the Tribunal.
A brief glance at the Tribunal’s current
administrative set-up shows that the infrastructure now in place can be
regarded as sufficient and up-to-date. Two additional court rooms were
constructed and the Tribunal occupied further additional space for the
Registry. Although there may be a need for a future expansion of the detention
facility, the Tribunal is able to manage with the present installation.
These installations currently are holding 27 detainees who are indicted
by the Tribunal.
As the Tribunal reports, since October
of last year nineteen indictees have either been apprehended or have surrendered
to the Tribunal. However, when one looks at the detailed survey of execution
or non-execution of arrest warrants by States, entities and international
organizations on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, which is contained
in Annex III of the report, it becomes evident that serious problems still
persist as far as the active cooperation of the authorities in place on
the territory covered by the Tribunal’s judicial mandate and terms of reference
is concerned. In a number of cases those authorities have taken no action
at all on the specific requests and the arrest warrants transmitted by
the Tribunal. Such lack of cooperation clearly is in violation of mandatory
obligations under international law and must not be tolerated. While the
Tribunal notes a certain increase in cooperation from the Republika Srpska
which resulted in the surrender of five indictees from its territory, the
overall situation remains unsatisfactory. One blatant example is the continuing
refusal of the Government of the FRY to cooperate with the Tribunal by
failing to arrest and transfer to the custody of the Tribunal three persons
indicted by it, a matter which was raised by the President of the Tribunal
in a letter dated 8 September 1998 addressed to the President of the Security
Council (S/1998/839). Meanwhile the matter has been decided by the Security
Council through its resolution 1207.
Mr. President,
As in the past the European Union for
reasons of principle will refrain from commenting on actual cases now before
the Tribunal. Chapter II B of the report on the Tribunal’s judicial activities
contains detailed information in that regard. We wish to reiterate that
in order to do its job impartially the Tribunal must be totally independent
of any political authorities. However, we have to stress again the need
for unstinting co-operation by all States and all parties with the Tribunal
to enable it to perform its duties satisfactorily. The corresponding duties
of the authorities concerned extend not only to executing the Tribunal’s
arrest warrants, but also to facilitating the Tribunal's investigative
activity, by allowing entry of investigators, and cooperating with them.
In the latter respect the European
Union notes that recently a serious issue has arisen as far as the Tribunal's
role in response to recent events in Kosovo is concerned. International
humanitarian law applies to the situation in Kosovo and the Tribunal has
a mandate to gather relevant information and evidence.
The President of the Tribunal in recent
letters addressed to the Security Council (S/1998/990 and 1040) has drawn
attention to the fact that the necessary cooperation of the Government
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is not forthcoming. The European
Union is thus deeply concerned about the FRY Government’s decision to deny
a delegation from the Tribunal the permission to conduct investigations
in Kosovo. This decision is a clear case of non-compliance with the relevant
resolutions of the Security Council and the recent Holbrook/Milosevic agreement
which the EU fully supports. The European Union’s position in that regard
has been communicated to the authorities of the FRY.
Mr. President,
In this connection the European Union
recalls Security Council resolutions 1160, 1199 and 1203 which spell out
the FRY's obligation to cooperate fully with the Tribunal in respect of
Kosovo, including compliance with its orders, requests for information
and investigations. The Union demands that the FRY authorities stop preventing
the Office of the Prosecutor from accomplishing its mission in Kosovo.
We express the hope that the necessary
steps will finally be taken by the Belgrade authorities to enable the Tribunal,
and in particular its Prosecutor, to carry out their mandate concerning
Kosovo. This is not a matter of graciously according visas to the Prosecutor
and her staff so that they may attend a symposium or similar event in Belgrade,
it is a matter of mandatory cooperation with the Tribunal under Article
29 of its Statute, and of genuine compliance with clear-cut obligations
under international law.
In conclusion, the European Union wishes
to assure the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible
for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the
Territory of the Former Yugoslavia of its full support. To achieve the
purpose for which the Tribunal was created, the active cooperation of all
Governments is needed. The European Union accordingly urges that such cooperation
be forthcoming. The importance and the scope of this issue are well defined
by the Tribunal itself in its final conclusion, a conclusion, which holds
equally, if not to a larger extent, true for the International Criminal
Court and the Rome Statute adopted earlier this year. The European Union
is in agreement with the Tribunal, when the latter at the end of its report
states the following: “To support the nascent international order that
the Tribunal epitomizes, the process of law must be applied and must be
upheld. In this, there should be no doubt, for in this there can be no
doubt. The rule of law is not subject to expediency. The international
community must see, must listen and must act if it is not to squander the
extraordinary potential of the Tribunal's creation.”
Thank you, Mr. President.
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