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UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001180 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC ICTY KJUS UNSC ICTR
SUBJECT: ICTY/ICTR PRESIDENTS, PROSECUTORS BRIEF SECURITY 
COUNCIL 
 
REF: A. STATE 92037 
 
     ¶B. 2005 USUN 2911 
 
¶1.  BEGIN SUMMARY:  The Presidents of and Prosecutors for the 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 
(ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 
(ICTR) briefed the Security Council June 7 on their progress 
toward implementation of the Completion Strategy of the 
respective tribunals.  All Council members spoke, after which 
Serbia and Rwanda intervened.  Note:  Serbia participated for 
the first time as the continuation of Serbia and Montenegro. 
Montenegro is now seeking UN membership. 
 
¶2.  Common themes included a call for states to transfer 
Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadic, and Felicien Kabuga to the 
tribunals, as well as support for referrals to local courts, 
consistent with appropriate safeguards, measures to enhance 
the tribunals' efficiency, and efforts to help develop local 
judicial institutions.  In its intervention, Serbia defended 
its cooperation with the ICTY and called on the ICTY to refer 
cases to Serbian courts.  Rwanda stressed four priority areas 
for the ICTR, including the need to transfer cases and those 
convicted to Rwanda to serve their sentences.  The briefings 
by the Presidents and Prosecutors and the individual country 
statements, as available, have been sent electronically to 
S/WCI, Embassy-The Hague, and L/AN.  END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Presidents' and Prosecutors' Briefings 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  In their remarks, ICTY President Fausto Pocar and ICTR 
President Erik Mose highlighted issues including their 
respective tribunal's judicial activities, efforts to 
implement each tribunal's Completion Strategy, and referral 
of cases to competent national jurisdictions.  Pocar said the 
ICTY's trials would continue into 2009.  Finishing by then 
might be possible, he said, provided the trials of multiple 
defendants run smoothly, cases referred -to the former 
Yugoslavia are not referred back to the ICTY, indictments 
become more focused, and Mladic, Karadic, and the four other 
remaining high-level fugitives are transferred to the ICTY 
soon.  In his briefing on the ICTR, Mose expressed confidence 
that the tribunal could conclude the cases of all indictees 
currently in detention by 2008, but called the arrest of 
fugitives and referral of cases to national jurisdictions 
remaining challenges. 
 
¶4.  Pocar also summarized developments following the deaths 
of Milan Babic and Slobodan Milosevic since his March 31 
videoconference, on that subject, with the Council.  The ICTY 
has established a Working Group to follow up on the 
recommendations of the general audit report of the United 
Nations Detention Unit (UNDU), conducted by Swedish 
authorities, and the ICTY's internal inquiry into Milosevic's 
death, he reported.  Pocar also announced that the Dutch 
authorities concluded their investigation into Babic's death, 
finding no evidence of criminal conduct. 
 
¶5.  ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte and ICTR Prosecutor 
Hassan Jallow also reviewed accomplishments and highlighted 
remaining challenges, particularly in securing cooperation 
leading to the transfer of indicted fugitives.  Of the two, 
Del Ponte delivered the more pointed statement.  After 
discussing her efforts to increase the tribunal's efficiency, 
Del Ponte criticized the ICTY's new rule permitting a trial 
chamber to direct the Prosecutor to reduce the counts in an 
indictment.  The rule could be interpreted only as "advisory 
in nature," she said, calling the Security Council the only 
body with authority to modify the ICTY statute and citing the 
statute's guarantees of prosecutorial independence.  Reducing 
one or several counts may "seriously undermine" the 
prosecution's case, she argued, eventually leading to 
impunity for certain crimes.  She cited Srebrenica to 
illustrate her concerns, asking how she could justify 
presenting "only half of the picture of the brutal crimes" 
that occurred. 
 
¶6.  Del Ponte also stressed the need to secure the arrest and 
transfer of Karadic and Mladic, expressing particular 
frustration with Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY 
concerning Mladic.  She also complained of a lack of movement 
 
 
on transferring Vlastimir Djordjevic and "long and 
unexplained delays" in the transfer of Dragan Zelenovic. 
Those delays call into question the Russian Federation's 
cooperation with the ICTY, she said.  In concluding, Del 
Ponte suggested that the Council should give the prosecutor's 
office the power to arrest indictees, because states have 
proven unwilling to do so. 
 
¶7.  Jallow stressed the tribunal's challenges in securing the 
transfer of fugitives and referring cases to national courts. 
 A top priority remains securing the arrest and transfer of 
Felicien Kabuga, and the Kenyan government's full cooperation 
in Kabuga's case should be encouraged, he said.  The referral 
of indictees to national courts remains "slow and 
challenging," he said, calling inadequate judicial capacity a 
key obstacle to referrals.  He urged states to help build the 
capacity of Rwanda and other states to accept transferred 
cases. 
 
----------------- 
Russian Criticism 
----------------- 
 
¶8.  Russian PermRep Vitaly Churkin devoted most of his 
intervention to criticizing the ICTY.  He questioned the 
ICTY's response to the deaths of Babic and Milosevic and 
criticized the ICTY for failing to respond adequately to a 
list of questions Russia provided concerning those deaths. 
Churkin called the ICTY's decision not to release Milosevic 
for treatment in Moscow "a serious error" and said Prosecutor 
Carla del Ponte's "tactless" statement following Milosevic's 
death had "shocked" the Russian public. 
 
¶9.  Churkin then rejected the ICTY President and Prosecutor's 
negative assessment of Russia's cooperation with the 
tribunal.  The whereabouts of Vlastimir Djordjevic are not 
confirmed, he said, and Zelenovic remains in a pre-detention 
facility.  Finally, Churkin warned against engaging in 
"policies of legal fantasies" by granting Prosecutor Del 
Ponte's request for authorization to arrest indictees. 
 
------------------------------ 
Serbia Defends its Cooperation 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  Zoran Loncar, Minister for Public Administration and 
Local Self-Government of the Republic of Serbia, argued that 
Serbia "has expressed full readiness and a clear political 
commitment to successfully complete its cooperation with the 
ICTY."  He commented that most indictees were surrendered to 
the ICTY at a time marked by "understanding and (an) 
atmosphere of partnership," which "yields best results."  The 
harboring of Mladic "directly threatens the national and 
State interest of Serbia," he said, emphasizing that the 
Serbian government had done "absolutely everything in its 
power" to find Mladic and transfer him to the ICTY. 
 
¶11.  Loncar also called on the ICTY to transfer cases to 
Serbian courts.  He argued that trials before domestic courts 
would help realize the goals of the ICTY and help prevent 
perceptions that the trial was biased. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Rwanda Identifies Areas Needing Progress 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  Rwandan Charge d'Affaires Nicholas Shalita identified 
four areas in which progress is essential in the next few 
months.  First, indicted fugitives such as Felicien Kabuga 
and Augustine Ngirabatware must be brought to justice at the 
ICTR.  Second, the ICTR should refer trials to Rwanda, which 
would help "eradicate the culture of impunity and promote 
reconciliation."  The Rwandan government has drafted new 
legislation to prepare for these transfers, which addresses 
procedural issues, waives the death penalty, and creates 
Special Chambers, he reported.  Third, the ICTR must transfer 
all ICTR convicts to serve their sentences in Rwanda. 
Fourth, the Completion Strategy should incorporate the 
transfer of all court documents and materials to Rwanda, 
where they could become the heart of a research and 
educational center that would help raise awareness and 
prevent genocide in Rwanda and elsewhere. 
 
 
 
------------- 
SC Resolution 
------------- 
 
¶13.  Many Security Council members expressed support for the 
draft resolution (ref A) extending the terms of the ICTR 
judges.  The Security Council President indicated that the 
Council intends to adopt the resolution in the near future. 
MILLER