INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS FOR RWANDA, FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, MUST BE GIVEN NEEDED RESOURCES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD
Press Release
GA/AB/3199
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS FOR RWANDA, FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, MUST BE GIVEN NEEDED RESOURCES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD
19971204 The International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia must be allocated the resources they needed to carry out their investigations and prosecutions, several representatives said this morning, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) concluded its debate on the financing of the two bodies.The representative of the United States, stressing the need to provide such resources, cited the high cost of conducting investigations. Also, the construction of a second courtroom for the former Yugoslavia Tribunal was necessary to ensure prompt trials, and the United States would make in-kind contributions to that project.
The representative of Belgium, speaking for the European Union and associated States, said he would prefer to have the financing of the Tribunals based entirely on the scale of assessments used to fund the United Nations regular budget. Norway's representative supported that view.
However, the representatives of Pakistan and Mexico called for the retention of the current 50/50 formula used to apportion the Tribunals' costs among Member States. By that system, half of their financing is based on assessments according to the regular budget scale, with the other half being based on the scale used to finance peacekeeping operations.
The scale for peacekeeping assesses States in fractions of their regular budget rates, mainly according to their level of economic development. At one extreme, named developing countries are assessed a one-tenth of their regular budget rates, while at the other extreme, industrialized countries who are permanent members of the Security Council are assessed 100 per cent of their regular budget rates plus whatever costs are left over after States have been assessed.
Also this morning, the representative of India welcomed Secretary- General Kofi Annan's action to phase out the use of gratis personnel loaned to the Tribunals by governments and other entities. The Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division of the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, Warren Sach, responded to questions raised during the discussion.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Monday, 8 December, to begin its consideration of the financial implications of the Secretary-General's reform measures and proposals.
Committee Work Programme
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to conclude its consideration of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. (For background on the reports before the Committee, see Press Release GA/AB/3197 of 1 December.)
Statements
ROYAL WHARTON (United States) said he supported the conclusions of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) regarding the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The costs for conducting investigations were high, because of the complexities involved. Managerial problems, which in the past had detrimentally affected the work of the Rwanda Tribunal, had now been resolved. The two Tribunals should therefore be given the budgetary resources needed to fulfil their mandates.
The two Tribunals must dispense justice fairly by bringing the accused to trial promptly, he said. The Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia urgently required a second courtroom to provide prompt trials. The United States was working with another State to make in-kind contributions for a second regular courtroom. However, even if that voluntary contribution went forward, there would still be a need for the $2.9 million currently budgeted for the construction of a second courtroom. For example, the funds could be used for obtaining equipment and hiring temporary staff to assist in operating the second courtroom. Therefore, he asked that flexibility be given to the use of the $2.9 million in funds. Other States should consider similar in-kind contributions.
The budgets of the Tribunals were based upon certain assumptions about the number of trials projected for 1998, he said. However, those budgets did not contemplate additional indictees who might be brought into custody during the year. That ran counter to Security Council and General Assembly resolutions which called for indictees still at large to be brought to immediate trial. Gratis personnel loaned by States to the United Nations should be used to provide expertise which was not readily available within the Organization for specialized functions and for a limited period of time, as described by General Assembly resolution 51/243.
PETER MADDENS (Belgium), speaking for the European Union, as well as for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania, said the budget documents before the Committee deserved praise. The Tribunals' budget proposals took into account nearly all the comments made by the Committee during its past consideration of the matter. He joined the ACABQ in commending the Secretary-
General's efforts to follow-up on those comments. The Tribunals must be allocated the resources they needed for the fulfilment of their mandates.
The main thrust of the budgetary deliberations should be to address
Fifth Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/AB/3199 36th Meeting (AM) 4 December 1997
mandates and performance indicators, he said. Such information should be provided for all budgetary discussions. While accepting the recommendations of the ACABQ on vacancy rates for the Tribunals, he sought assurance that recruitment would not be slowed down. The proposed phasing-out of gratis personnel seemed to be in conformity with the Assembly's decision on the issue. Regarding the judges conditions of service, he again accepted the ACABQ's recommendations. He also accepted the Secretary-General's proposal on the financing mechanism, but would have preferred using only the scale for the regular budget. The Tribunals should make a detailed analysis of the requirements for the protection of witnesses.
ERLING SKJONSBERG (Norway) said the Tribunals required increased resources to carry out their investigations and prosecutions. Norway could accept the Secretary-General's proposals on the mechanism for their financing, but would have preferred using the regular budget scale for assessing Member States' contributions.
There was a need to ensure flexibility in phasing out the use of gratis personnel loaned by governments to the Tribunals, he said. That was necessary to avoid jeopardizing the specialized legal operations which depended on them. An orderly approach to scaling-down those staff would be helpful; the Assembly resolution that sought their phase-out provided for flexibility.
AMJAD HUSSAIN B. SIAL (Pakistan) said that despite its financial difficulties, his country had been one of the first States to announce a cash contribution of $1 million to the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and would pay its assessments to the two Tribunals soon. The ACABQ had been informed about the limited use that would be made of gratis personnel in early 1998, pending staff recruitment by the Rwanda Tribunal. With the ACABQ having reported high vacancy rates in the Prosecutor's Office and Registry of the Tribunal, the administration should have planned on recruiting staff. He expressed satisfaction with the cut in the funds allocated for consultants and experts in both Tribunals.
The Secretariat should clarify the budgetary provisions being proposed for the Tribunals under the headings of travel, audit and contractual services, he said. It should also explain why a seeming total of $1.206 million was sought for travel in the Rwanda Tribunal when the provisions under that budget line item would add up only to $483,700. It should also justify the increases ranging from 77.5 per cent to 177.8 per cent in "other staff costs" and "contractual services" for both Tribunals, as such exorbitant increases did not indicate prudent fiscal management. Since the issue of the pensions of the Tribunal judges would be deferred to the next Assembly session, the Secretariat should indicate how it would address the pensions of judges who retired in 1998. He supported the 50/50 formula for apportioning the Tribunals' costs among Member States.
RAJAT SAHA (India) endorsed the views of the ACABQ on the Tribunals and welcomed the Secretary-General's actions to phase out their use of gratis personnel.
Fifth Committee - 4 - Press Release GA/AB/3199 36th Meeting (AM) 4 December 1997
MARTA PENA (Mexico) said the Tribunals should continue to be financed according to the method previously approved by Member States. That was based on 50 per cent of assessments according to the regular budget scale and 50 per cent according to the special peacekeeping scale of contributions. She also welcomed the Secretary-General's efforts to phase out the gratis personnel, as required by the Assembly.
WARREN SACH, Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division of the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, said that recruitment for the Tribunals would continue at full speed. The ACABQ's recommendation would not be interpreted in any way that would place constraints on the filling of posts. The performance reports were due in May 1998 for both Tribunals, for the year 1997. Financial indicators, including appropriated funds measured against realized actual expenditures, as well as performance indicators, would be included to the greatest extent possible.
Turning to the discrepancy raised by the representative of Pakistan regarding the Secretary-General's report on the Rwanda Tribunal, he said the amount mentioned was indeed a typographical error. Conditions of service and pension payments for the judges would reflect only what had been approved by the Assembly. On the treatment of particular items for audit, there were slight organizational differences between what was presented for the two Tribunals. Increased contractual services and other staff costs could be discussed in detail in informal consultations. Travel costs for the Rwanda Tribunal's defence counsel had been reclassified; as a result, some of the apparent increase was more a matter of perception than reality.
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