EU Presidency Statement - IT Report on former Yugoslavia

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, and the Associated Countries - Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, as well as the EFTA Countries of the European Economic Area - Iceland and Liechtenstein, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. President,

The European Union would like to once again express its strong support for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal's establishment in 1993 marked a significant step forward in the progressive development of international criminal law and opened up an entirely new field of United Nations action. The Tribunal has been and remains an important element in the international community's strategy for restoring peace, security and the rule of law in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The impact of the Tribunal will go far beyond the region of the Balkans. By providing innovative and constructive ideas on how to make international criminal justice work, the Tribunal paved the way for the International Criminal Court - the first permanent international structure to combat impunity for the most serious crimes that are of concern to the international community as a whole.

The Tribunal and the Court serves as an eloquent example of the determination of the international community to combat impunity. Under no circumstances shall perpetrators of serious violations of international humanitarian law enjoy impunity, no matter their rank, position or citizenship.

Mr. President,

With great satisfaction, the European Union takes note of the efforts of the Tribunal to continue the process of structural and operational reforms initiated in 2001 to seek the expeditious resolution of the cases before it in order to be able to finish its remaining tasks by 2010.

Internally, the Appeals Chamber has been reorganised over the last year by strengthening the structural ties with the Rwanda Tribunal. The introduction of ad litem judges has been particularly worthwhile. Their services have allowed the Tribunal to conduct more trials in parallel. Externally, the Tribunal has focused on its completion strategy with the intention of finishing investigations by 2004, completing trial activities at first instance by 2008 and bringing to an end all Appeals cases by 2010, thus fulfilling its mandate. The European Union supports the Tribunal's ongoing efforts to concentrate its work on the prosecution and trial of the civilian, military and paramilitary leaders, who bear the greatest responsibility. We have noted with interest the strategy of the Tribunal to transfer cases involving intermediary and lower-level accused to competent national jurisdictions, as endorsed by the Security Council. We encourage the states in the region to make efforts to facilitate such transfers, inter alia by providing the necessary legal framework for the trials to be conducted in a fair manner. The Tribunal will wish to satisfy itself that the national jurisdictions, which will receive transferred cases, have the capacity, the competence and independence to properly investigate such cases within an acceptable timeframe. And that the interests of victims and witnesses will be properly safeguarded.

The reforms demonstrate the ability of the Tribunal to cope with and adjust to the challenges before it. But despite the remarkable work carried out thus far, a lot remains to be done: persons on remand are awaiting trial, investigations have yet to be conducted and arrests need to be made. The Tribunal must spare no efforts in seeking to complete its task as soon as possible.

The European Union notes that the successes of the Tribunal have been achieved at significantly increasing cost. The report of the Auditors in respect of the biennium 2000/2001 suggests that there is considerable room for improvement in management control and enhanced budgetary efficiency. We look forward to learning more on how the Tribunal has addressed the Auditors' recommendations.

Mr. President,

Full cooperation of all states is a vital precondition for the ability of the Tribunal to adhere to the goals set out in its completion strategy. The European Union urges all Governments to live up to their international obligation to cooperate fully with the Tribunal, regardless of their domestic legislation.

Full cooperation on all aspects of the work of the Tribunal constitutes a non-negotiable requirement of international law, whether it is required in relation to the location, arrest and transfer of indictees, or whether it is required in relation to securing access to witnesses, documents, archives or other evidence.

Nevertheless, states' cooperation with the Tribunal remains problematic. Many national authorities in the former Yugoslavia continue to provide only the minimum in terms of cooperation. The continuing impunity of Radovan Karadjic and Ratko Mladic, indicted on counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, must be brought to an end. It is also high time that Ante Gotovina and Janko Bobetko, indicted on counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, are arrested and transferred to the Tribunal by the Croatian authorities. Finally, the lack of cooperation on the part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with regards to witnesses and archives, and its failure to track down, arrest and transfer indictees is totally unacceptable, and has led the Tribunal to report the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the Security Council for continued non-cooperation.

The European Union urges the governments and other relevant authorities of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to cooperate immediately and fully with the Tribunal. Failure to cooperate fully with the Tribunal would seriously jeopardise further movement of these countries towards the European Union. We will keep close contact with the Tribunal on these matters and continue to closely follow the developments.

Mr. President,

I should not wish to end without thanking all the branches of the Tribunal - the Chambers, the Registry and the Office of the Prosecutor - for their continuing endeavours. They provide essential contributions to peace and security in the region by ushering in justice and facilitating reconciliation. And they can rest assured of the full support and cooperation of the European Union.

Thank you, Mr. President.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - Financing of the ICTR and ICTY (24/11/2003)
• EU Presidency Statement - Financing of ICTY and ICTR (18/11/2002)
• EU Presidency Statement - The International Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (26/11/2001)