VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0577/01 1610018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100018Z JUN 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6698
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 0011
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 0320
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 0322
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 3188

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000577 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ICTY PREL UNSC
SUBJECT: FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND RWANDA WAR CRIMES TRIBUNALS 
REPORT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL 
 
REF: STATE 57281 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  The Security Council met June 5 for its 
biannual briefing on the International Criminal Tribunal for 
the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal 
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  The President and Prosecutor of 
each tribunal made statements, as did all Council members and 
representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Serbia, 
and Kenya.  Some common themes included apprehending fugitive 
indictees, moving forward with Completion Strategies, and 
addressing residual issues.  Each of the tribunals also 
conveyed their requests for extending the contracts of some 
of their judges.  Croatia's Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader, made 
Croatia's statement  and said that Croatia is fully 
cooperating with the ICTY's request for documents. 
Ambassador DiCarlo delivered the U.S. statement using the 
points contained in reftel. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Judge Patrick Robinson, President of the ICTY, outlined 
his tribunal's schedule.  Robinson conveyed that the trial of 
Karadzic is scheduled to end in early 2012.  On appeals 
cases, he recalled that the ICTY and ICTR share the appellate 
function.  After conducting a detailed analysis, Robinson 
said that he recommends the redeployment of  eight trial 
judges to the appeals chamber.  If this redeployment is 
approved by the Security Council, Robinson said all appeals 
cases should be finished by the middle of 2013.  Robinson 
asked the Security Council for its support in extending the 
contracts of some of the ICTY's appeals and trial judges and 
for the ICTY's request for an additional ad litem judge. 
 
¶3.  Acknowledging that some of the ICTY's increased appeals 
work is due to the failure of Rule 11bis transfer of cases 
from the ICTR to national jurisdictions, Robinson found it 
troubling that some European countries were unwilling to 
accept such cases.  He said that the issue is a critical one 
that needs to be addressed by the international community. 
Robinson also focused on the issue of staff retention.  In 
the last three months he said the ICTY has lost 82 staff 
members.  He called upon the Secretariat and the Security 
Council to assist the ICTY in implementing strategies to 
retain staff.  In closing , Robinson quoted Henry Wadsworth 
Longfellow and said, "Great is the art of beginning, but 
greater is the art of ending". 
 
¶4.  Judge Dennis Bryon, President of the ICTR, began his 
statement by saying that the Security Council's support 
demonstrates its commitment to the proposition that "man's 
inhumanity to man cannot be excused as an inevitable trait of 
human nature".  It is a choice, he said, for which every 
perpetrator of atrocities can be and must be held 
responsible.  Bryon said that with the exception of the 
Karemera trial, he is aiming for judgment delivery in all 
trial cases during 2010.  He also asked the Security Council 
to approve his request to extend the mandate of all but two 
currently serving trial judges until December 31, 2010. 
 
¶5.  On another note, Bryon resurrected the issue of the 
inequality between permanent and ad litem judges concerning 
certain entitlements.  Referring to UNSC resolution 1855 
(2008) which abandoned the requirement for a permanent judge 
to be included on each bench, Byron said that ad litem judges 
are now nearly identical in authority to the permanent judges 
and are on equal terms regarding responsibility and case 
load.  Also concerned about staff retention, Bryon lobbied 
for pension benefits for ad litem judges. 
 
¶6.  ICTY Prosecutor Serge Brammertz focused on the 
cooperation of States.  He said that such cooperation remains 
critical to the successful completion of the ICTY's trials 
and appeals work.  Although he said that Serbia has made 
additional progress in its cooperation with the ICTY, 
Brammertz said that he hoped that Serbia's political 
authorities will provide all necessary support for the ICTY's 
work.  He expressed his concern with regard to negative 
statements by senior government officials about the ICTY's 
judicial decisions.  Unfortunately, Brammertz said, Croatia's 
progress in providing documents to the ICTY has been limited 
and emphasized that the large majority of military documents 
have not been submitted.  ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Jallow 
conveyed that there continues to be intense activity at the 
ICTR.  Expressing frustration that Felicien Kabuga and four 
other indictees are still at large, he appealed to the 
Security Council to help locate them.  Jallow also referred 
to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) cases that were 
prosecuted in Kigali.  He said the ICTR monitored these cases 
via video and that the standards of fair trials were 
observed. 
 
 
 
¶7.  Standout statements included China, the U.K. and Kenya. 
China said that although it understands the reasons behind 
why the Completion Strategy of both tribunals has been 
delayed, it nonetheless called upon the tribunals to be more 
productive and innovative in their approach.  China also said 
that the transfer of cases to national jurisdictions is an 
important next step.  The U.K., in reaction to the 
President's request for the extension of judges and for 
incentives to retain staff, said that it could support 
non-monetary means to  retain staff.  Acknowledging that 
there are legitimate reasons for the Completion Strategy to 
be delayed, the U.K. said that it supports the tribunals' 
request to extend some of their judges but conveyed that the 
tribunals should do everything possible to minimize delays. 
The U.K. also called on Croatia to provide the ICTY with the 
missing documents in the Gotovina case.  But for this one 
case, the U.K. said that Croatia has demonstrated solid 
cooperation with the ICTY.  Kenya said that it has been an 
active player in the international criminal justice system 
and that it is committed to the ICTR's work.  Referring to 
Felicien Kabuga, Kenya said that he was, at one time, in 
Kenya, but is no longer there. 
RICE