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OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHVB #0056/01 0261534
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O 261534Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9854
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000056 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE AND S/WCI; THE HAGUE FOR OLC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KAWC ICTY HR
SUBJECT: ICTY TASK FORCE TO CONTINUE ONCE CHAPTER 23 OPENS, 
JUSTICE MINISTER SKEPTICAL OF RESULTS 
 
REF: ZAGREB 731 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Chris Zimmer for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d) 
 
¶1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: Ambassador Foley briefed Justice Minister 
Ivan Simonovic on his trip to London to discuss Croatia's 
investigation into missing war crimes documents and the UK's 
block on Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) in 
Croatia's EU accession negotiations. Although some in the 
British Government still hold a skeptical view of Croatia's 
cooperation with ICTY, the UK is willing to open the chapter 
and move a final decision on Croatia's cooperation to a 
closing benchmark.  The focus now shifts to the Netherlands 
as apparently the sole holdout on Chapter 23 and Simonovic is 
trying to use his contacts in the Dutch Government to 
convince their PM and Foreign Minister to accept the British 
position.  The Ambassador stressed the need to continue the 
work of the Task Force once Chapter 23 is opened and to hold 
people accountable for stealing and/or destroying documents. 
Simonovic doubts that the documents will be found nor will 
sentences for destroying documents become more severe, but 
assured the Task Force's investigative work will continue. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C/NF) Ambassador Foley called on Justice Minister 
Simonovic on January 25 to brief him on his trip to London 
with Ambassador-At-Large for War Crimes Stephen Rapp to 
discuss with British officials the prospects for unblocking 
Chapter 23, one of the final hurdles for Croatia's EU 
accession.  The Ambassador described the division of opinion 
in London on Croatia's progress in cooperating with ICTY and 
on the GoC Task Force's work to find the missing documents in 
the Gotovina case or to uncover what happened to them. He 
noted that the British decision to move forward on Chapter 23 
and transform the issue of ICTY cooperation into a strong 
closing benchmark was taken with reluctance and that British 
officials are giving Croatia the benefit of the doubt.  Foley 
stressed that both the US and UK expected the Task Force to 
continue a vigorous investigation into the missing documents, 
and to follow the evidence wherever it led. 
 
¶3. (C/NF) Simonovic said he is refocusing on the Netherlands. 
 He spoke to the Minister of Justice and a MOJ State 
Secretary, who are both personal acquaintances and from 
different coalition partners.  They told him that they would 
speak to their Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and urge 
them to lift the blockade.  Simonovic also said that other 
officials at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
recommended to the FM to open Chapter 23.  He said that the 
Belgians and Finns have taken the British position and the 
Dutch are now isolated on Chapter 23. 
 
¶4. (C/NF) A strong closing benchmark is not a problem, 
according to Simonovic, although he doubts the Task Force 
will be able to find the missing documents as they are "too 
well hidden" by those who stole them.  He agreed with the 
Ambassador that, if the documents are not found, it will be 
critical to uncover the details of the conspiracy to conceal 
the documents and hold the perpetrators responsible.  The 
Ambassador expressed concern that the sentences meted out 
thus far have been weak 6-month suspended sentences. 
Simonovic responded that the punishments were within 
Croatia's sentencing guidelines, he could not instruct judges 
to hand out harsher sentences, nor did he think future 
convictions would result in harsher penalties.  He did 
believe, however, that the Task Force would be able to 
determine what happened to the documents and even reconstruct 
what was in the documents. 
 
¶5. (C/NF) Simonovic said that President-Elect Josipovic, 
known throughout Europe for his early support of ICTY (which 
was very unpopular domestically at that time), will be 
supportive of Croatia's efforts to open Chapter 23 and reform 
the judiciary and his election should show to other Europeans 
that Croatia is not the same country it was in the 1990s 
under Tudjman.  He already spoke to Josipovic about utilizing 
the February 18th inauguration as an opportunity to discuss 
with European leaders the progress Croatia is making in the 
investigation and in cooperating with ICTY. 
 
¶6. (C/NF) COMMENT: GOC officials appear to understand the 
need to continue a strong effort to locate the documents once 
Chapter 23 is opened and are aware that complacency or 
triumphalism could have negative ramifications for closing 
the chapter. We are encouraging the Croatians to bring Dutch 
and British officials to Zagreb to meet with those involved 
in the Task Force to get a better understanding of the 
investigation.  Post will continue to monitor the Task 
 
ZAGREB 00000056  002 OF 002 
 
 
Force's work to ensure that its aggressive approach is 
maintained. 
FOLEY