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| ICTY: MERON PRESENTS 12TH ANNUAL REPORT TO UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
UNITED NATIONS, October 11 (FENA) – Presenting the twelfth annual report to the UN General Assembly, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Theodor Meron, thanked the participating states of the UN for the critical support they have long afforded to the Tribunal, which has allowed the historic vision of the Tribunal to become a tangible and compelling force in the quest for peace, justice and reconciliation in the region of former Yugoslavia.
Speaking about cooperation between the former Yugoslav states with ICTY, Justice Meron stressed ICTY has augmented its efforts to persuade the States of the former Yugoslavia to actively search for and arrest indicted individuals who remain at large. During the reporting period, 24 accused were transferred or surrendered to The Hague. This leaves the Tribunal with only seven fugitives who have yet to be apprehended, although ICTY remains gravely concerned that included amongst these seven are three of the most important indictees: Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Ante Gotovina.
Stating that the ICTY continues to look to new and creative methods that many increase the efficiency of their proceedings and reduce the costs of our operations without sacrificing the quality of their work, Meron said that his earlier estimate of year 2009 as the year in which the Tribunal could complete the trials of all accused in its custody at that time. Nevertheless, he likewise warned that further growth of the trial docket would make achieving that ambitious target entirely dependant on at least some cases being disposed by guilty pleas. He stressed that several procedural rules have been amended, markedly expediting the procedures without sacrificing the defendants’ due process rights.
Welcoming the rule of law reforms in the former Yugoslav republics, Meron expressed particular satisfaction with the fact that the BiH State Court opened its War Crimes Chamber on March 9 2005.
“This is truly an historic accomplishment for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community as a whole. It was achieved through the coordinated efforts of the Government and people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Tribunal, donor Governments and the international community. Despite serious difficulties, these extraordinary efforts saw the War Crimes Chamber up and running in a remarkably short period of time”, he said.
“We ask for the full cooperation of all participating states as we seek to bring to justice the perpetrators of the atrocities that scarred the Balkans in the 1990s, devastating hundreds of thousands of lives. The nations represented here today must recognize the risks posed to international justice if these fugitives escape the reach of the Tribunal. It is plain: a dark shadow will be cast over the Tribunal's historic accomplishments if senior-level accused have not been brought to justice at The Hague. We must work together to guard against this threat to the legacy of the Tribunal and to international justice”, underlined Meron.
“This past July was the tenth anniversary of the horrific Srebrenica massacres - where about 7,900 Muslim men and boys were summarily executed in what has been recognized by the Tribunal as genocide. I was honored to speak at the moving ceremony at the memorial for the victims on July 11, 2005. The suspected engineers of that genocide, Karadzic and Mladic, have been evading justice now for a decade”, he said.
Speaking about the cooperation of the former Yugoslav republics with the Tribunal, Meron expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that five of the seven accused remaining at large, including Mladic, are believed to be in Serbia and Montenegro and RS. He added that Croatia’s level of cooperation remains satisfactory in most areas, with the marked exception of that country’s failure to apprehend and render Ante Gotovina to The Hague.
In his address, Meron also said that his tenure as the ICTY President would end in mid November, though he would continue working as an Appeals Chamber Judge.
“It has truly been a great honor and privilege to lead this great institution. Please allow me the opportunity to express to you all my sincere gratitude for your continued support of the Tribunal and indeed of international justice and the fight against impunity”, said ICTY President Theodor Meron.
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