PRESS BRIEFING BY PROSECUTOR FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND RWANDA TRIBUNALS

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY PROSECUTOR FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND RWANDA TRIBUNALS

Speaking after having addressed both the General Assembly and the Security Council, Carla Del Ponte, the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, told correspondents at a Headquarters Press Briefing this afternoon that establishing a good, cooperative relationship with each State of the former Yugoslavia was one of her highest priorities. The dramatic developments following the overthrow of the Slobodan Milosevic regime presented new opportunities for working together with President Vojislav Kostunica to complete the Tribunal's work, including the investigation of Serb victimization.

The Security Council could now formally invite Croatia to cooperate fully, she said. The problem was that while Croatia's President was fully cooperating, as were the Justice Minister and the Prime Minister, when it came to complete cooperation, the Tribunal ran into problems. "The political will is present but the modalities are absent. That's because the old administration, that of Tudjman, is still in place." Access to documents and witnesses was a major difficulty.

Despite that, she said, both Tribunals were progressing well. The Rwanda Tribunal was entering an intense period with significant indictments expected over the next weeks and a number of key arrests before year's end. Those trials would be the most significant the Tribunal would ever deal with. Several important arrests were also expected in the former Yugoslav Tribunal. But her commitment to see that all indicted fugitives were surrendered to the Hague in the near future was firm. The benefit of arresting all indicted criminals in the Balkans was that a lasting and just peace would be more certain if a firm basis was established for true reconciliation.

The forensic work in Kosovo was also progressing, she said, reporting that 4,000 bodies or parts had been exhumed and examined in the past two years from more than 500 sites. An accurate count of the total killed would never be known because of deliberate attempts to dispose of bodies or conceal them. There were also some graves that would not be opened.

Asked to comment on President Kostunica's statement that the Tribunal was not high among his priorities, the Prosecutor said it was probably an avoidance tactic on the part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's new leader. She said she expected true cooperation to be established after the December elections, with the first step being to re-open the Tribunal offices, because that did not depend on the new Government. It had been former President Milosevic who had agreed to cooperate with the Tribunal after the Dayton Peace Agreement.

“We will take care to make sure the international community does not forget -- it is an international obligation to cooperate with the Tribunal", she said in response to a question.

Tribunal Press Briefing - 2 - 21 November 2000

The situation with the Russians had not changed since the Tribunal's beginning, she said, answering a question about the exchange the Prosecutor had had with the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation.

"What is the result of their lack of cooperation?" the correspondent asked. The Prosecutor said her predecessors had been unable to get in touch with Russian authorities in Moscow either. "They are always claiming we're against the Serbs -- you know the story", she said, adding that yesterday's statement by the Russian Federation in the General Assembly had been particularly unfair.

"In my opinion, they don't want to be in touch because then they can't make those claims anymore", she said. Basically, she said, there was no cooperation between the Tribunal and the Russian Federation.

Asked what she needed from the Russians, the Prosecutor reaffirmed that she needed first to explain the Tribunal's activities and show it was not politicized. She said she also needed to explain that the Tribunal was not just against the Serbs, that it was not an American tribunal and that it had no agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Further, she wanted to explain what a sealed indictment was and finally, to ask for an assurance of cooperation. "We'll need that in the course of our financial investigation of Milosevic and others", she stated.

In response to another question, she said the Russians stood absolutely alone in their position, except with regard to NATO, where China's position corresponded with the Russian Federation’s.

Asked about progress on the investigation into the Rwanda plane crash that had killed that country’s President prior to the genocide in that country, the Prosecutor said the French examining magistrate had opened a formal inquiry in response to a complaint by the French widows of the pilots. There was excellent cooperation between the French Judge and the Tribunal because the Tribunal wanted to know the results of that inquiry.

The Tribunal wanted, she continued, to know whether that criminal act was connected to the genocide that had started within hours of the plane crash. The cooperation was in the form of giving the Judge access to Tribunal detainees in Arusha, as well as to documents. She didn't know when the results would be available, but she would be meeting with the Judge and a Belgian Judge next week in the Hague about the proceedings.

Asked about security and support for the Rwanda Tribunal in the United Republic of Tanzania, she said the situation was better in Arusha than in Rwanda, where security was a great concern. When out on investigation activities, the prosecutors were very well protected by United Nations security and even by the Rwanda Government. So far, there had been no accidents. But, it was a major concern for investigators to work without fear of some incident.

Tribunal Press Briefing - 3 - 21 November 2000

On the former Yugoslavia Tribunal, she said the year 2001 would be busy, with not just a realistic expectation of Mr. Milosevic being brought to the Hague, but also others, such as Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Asked to confirm the possibility that Mr. Milosevic could be arrested, she said it was not just possible but necessary. "There is no other solution. Milosevic must be transferred to the Hague." Asked whether the Tribunal had been able to seize Mr. Milosevic's assets in Cyprus, she said the Cyprus authorities had gone public with having blocked all the bank accounts the Tribunal had requested.

About six or seven States had been asked to take such account-blocking actions, she explained, because a huge amount of money had been stolen from the people. While she wouldn't name the exact amount until the investigation had ended, she said cooperation with the requests had been excellent, based on a reconstruction of the financial operations involved.

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