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UNCLAS STATE 129977 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNSC PREL ICTY ICTR KAWC ZF ZL RW
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR 12/12 UNSC ICTY/ICTR DEBATE 
 
¶1. The Department requests that USUN draw on the following 
points for use during the Security Council's December 12 
consultations on the Completion Strategies for the 
International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia 
and Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR). 
 
¶2. Begin Points: 
 
The United States would like to thank  the Prosecutors and 
Presidents for their briefings and for their continued work 
to fight impunity.  We would also like to commend the 
tribunals, judges and staff for their diligence and their 
dedication to the tribunals, work .  We welcome the new ICTY 
President Robinson and note our appreciation for the 
continuing work of  ICTR President Byron and Prosecutors 
Jallow and Brammertz. 
 
The United States recognizes the many accomplishments of  the 
tribunals and we acknowledge, in particular, the recent 
arrests of Radovan Karadzic Stojan Zupljanin and the 
commencement of proceedings in their cases.  We urge the 
tribunals to continue to implement their completion 
strategies so that the courts can fulfill their ultimate 
mandate of bringing justice to those responsible for crimes 
in the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda .  We expect that the 
chambers will endeavor to bring the cases and trials 
currently in progress to resolution as soon as possible.  We 
regret the continued focus on increased judicial pensions 
which the United States and others oppose.  It is very 
important that issues such as this do not overshadow or 
interfere with the efficient administration of justice. 
 
We note the difficulties that the ICTR faces in transferring 
the cases of indictees to national jurisdictions, and we urge 
the international community to reaffirm its commitment to 
strengthening the domestic judicial capacity of Rwanda and 
the countries of the former Yugoslavia.  The U.S. commends 
the domestic prosecutorial and judicial efforts to ensure 
accountability for crimes committed in the Balkan wars, which 
is critical to the long-term stability of the region. 
 
We want to stress once again that the fugitive indictees must 
be brought to justice.  We cannot allow individuals who have 
been indicted by the ICTY and ICTR to enjoy impunity simply 
because they outlast the tribunals.  It must be clear to them 
and to those who support them that such a strategy will not 
succeed.  Accordingly, the United States urges the 
international community to work diligently toward securing 
the arrests of the 15 individuals indicted by ICTY and ICTR 
who remain at large. 
 
The United States calls on all States to fulfill their legal 
obligations to cooperate fully with the Tribunals.  We are 
encouraged by recent cooperation between the ICTR and the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo in tracking fugitives but 
more is needed.  These fugitives destabilize and breed 
conflict in eastern Congo.  The Congolese government should 
continue to seek to apprehend these fugitives, with the 
assistance of the UN agencies as appropriate.   We are 
troubled, however, by the lack of urgency in the Kenyan 
government to act on reports that ICTR fugitive and alleged 
genocide financier Felicien Kabuga continues to have links to 
Kenya.  The United States urges Kenya to act immediately on 
the Tribunal's recommendations and take additional steps to 
deny Kabuga access to his networks of support. 
 
Concerning the ICTY, we applaud Serbia for the arrest and 
transfer of Radovan Karadzic.   The remaining ICTY fugitives, 
Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic,  must also be apprehended, so 
we call on the Serbian authorities to do everything in their 
power to locate and arrest these individuals.  A resolution 
of their cases is critical for stability and reconciliation 
in the Balkans.  We also wish to stress the importance of all 
countries fully cooperating with the ICTY, and we note our 
concern over Prosecutor  Brammetz's report that the 
prosecution has not received key documents for the Gotovina 
trial, despite some encouraging steps taken by the Croatian 
government.  We urge the authorities in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia to continue to work closely 
with the ICTY and for their governments to fulfill all of 
their responsibilities relative to the Tribunal.  In 
addition, we urge the national authorities in the region to 
work closely with each other so as to enhance information 
sharing, to facilitate  the transfer of war crimes 
proceedings between states as appropriate, and to consider 
revisions to laws so as to allow extradition of nationals 
charged with war crimes. 
 
The United States thanks the Belgian delegation for its work 
as chair of the Working Group on Criminal Tribunals over the 
past year.  We look forward to working with the new Council 
members to complete the task of establishing a residual 
mechanism that ensures that no war criminal from these 
conflicts enjoys impunity, and that ensures the tribunals' 
legacy while allowing for their efficient and successful 
closure. 
 
      We again thank the Presidents, Prosecutors, Registrars, 
and their staffs for their good work and for their efforts to 
end   impunity for these crimes. 
 
      End Points 
RICE