Yugoslavia Tribunal's last chief prosecutor: Serge Brammertz
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CroRadio.net
Dec 29, 2007, 5:38:29 PM12/29/07
to Croatian News
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/071229-icty-brammertze-mc
Yugoslavia Tribunal's last chief prosecutor: Serge Brammertz
by Sebastiaan Gottlieb*
29-12-2007
On 1 January 2008, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz will become the
fourth chief prosecutor of the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague. He
succeeds Richard Goldstone, Louise Arbour and Carla Del Ponte, and
will be the last prosecutor of the Tribunal until it closes its doors
in 2010. A portrait of an ambitious Belgian, who likes car racing and
karate and speaks four languages fluently.
Serge BrammertzIn the Belgian media, Serge Brammertz (45) is called
'the perfect Belgian'. He is intellectual, internationally successful
and his reputation is impeccable. Mr Brammertz has all the qualities
required to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Carla Del
Ponte.
Ms Del Ponte led the chief prosecution office for eight years and
brought around 80 war criminals before the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The
Hague.
Mr Brammertz will not be able to out do her, because the Tribunal no
longer takes on any new cases. His main task is to bring the current
cases to a close. There are currently 27 suspects standing trial at
the Tribunal. Another eleven trials have yet to start.
Quiet diplomacy
Only if Mr Brammertz succeeds in tracing the fugitives General Ratko
Mladic or Radovan Karadzic can the Yugoslavia Tribunal continue after
2010 to try them. Carla Del Ponte exercised huge political pressure on
Serbia to have the two extradited, but did not succeed.
Mr Brammertz appears to prefer quiet diplomacy to achieve his goals.
He operates much more in the background than his predecessor Ms Del
Ponte, says Belgian journalist Jan Balliauw: "Carla Del Ponte was a
very flamboyant person, who always sought the attention of the
cameras. Mr Brammertz is very discrete, I can hardly remember Mr
Brammertz giving an interview since he has held international jobs and
I do not think that he will be doing so straight away."
Hariri assassination
Mr Brammertz used quiet diplomacy, for example, when he led the UN
investigation committee into the assassination of the former Lebanese
prime minister Rafiq Hariri. His predecessor in the committee - the
German, Detlev Mehlis - was boycotted by Syria, because he suggested
that Syria was behind the attack on Hariri.
His cautious approach made Serge Brammertz easier to accept for Syria.
His extensive investigation has provided a number of possible
suspects, but their names have not been released up to now. That will
only happen after the Hariri Tribunal starts at the beginning of 2009
in the former Dutch AIVD intelligence service building in Leidschendam
near The Hague.
Dutroux affair
Serge Brammertz has enjoyed splendid career. He started out as a
lawyer in Verviers, but soon became a professor at the University of
Liège. During the Dutroux affair in 1997 - the Belgian paedophile and
child murder case which made world news - he was the top official of
the Public Prosecution. He also started up a number of terrorism
trials in Belgium. Mr Brammertz was also a deputy prosecutor at the
International Criminal Court in The Hague, before the United Nations
appointed him chief investigator in the Hariri case.
Controversial
In spite of his international credentials, Mr Brammertz's arrival at
the Yugoslavia Tribunal is controversial. Insiders at the United
Nations suspect a deal was made with Mr Brammertz to switch him from
the sensitive Hariri investigation to the Yugoslavia Tribunal.
Almost all former Del Ponte staff had asked UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon to appoint American deputy prosecutor David Tolbert as chief
prosecutor. Human rights organisations also warned Mr Ban that Serge
Brammertz is new to the tribunal and has to be taught the ropes. David
Tolbert has worked there for nine years already and could easily take
over Ms Del Ponte's job.
Mr Tolbert may have been passed over because of his nationality. The
United States is in favour of an independent Kosovo and Serbia is
therefore unlikely to accept an American chief prosecutor.
* RNW translation (nc)
Yugoslavia Tribunal's last chief prosecutor: Serge Brammertz
by Sebastiaan Gottlieb*
29-12-2007
On 1 January 2008, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz will become the
fourth chief prosecutor of the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague. He
succeeds Richard Goldstone, Louise Arbour and Carla Del Ponte, and
will be the last prosecutor of the Tribunal until it closes its doors
in 2010. A portrait of an ambitious Belgian, who likes car racing and
karate and speaks four languages fluently.
Serge BrammertzIn the Belgian media, Serge Brammertz (45) is called
'the perfect Belgian'. He is intellectual, internationally successful
and his reputation is impeccable. Mr Brammertz has all the qualities
required to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Carla Del
Ponte.
Ms Del Ponte led the chief prosecution office for eight years and
brought around 80 war criminals before the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The
Hague.
Mr Brammertz will not be able to out do her, because the Tribunal no
longer takes on any new cases. His main task is to bring the current
cases to a close. There are currently 27 suspects standing trial at
the Tribunal. Another eleven trials have yet to start.
Quiet diplomacy
Only if Mr Brammertz succeeds in tracing the fugitives General Ratko
Mladic or Radovan Karadzic can the Yugoslavia Tribunal continue after
2010 to try them. Carla Del Ponte exercised huge political pressure on
Serbia to have the two extradited, but did not succeed.
Mr Brammertz appears to prefer quiet diplomacy to achieve his goals.
He operates much more in the background than his predecessor Ms Del
Ponte, says Belgian journalist Jan Balliauw: "Carla Del Ponte was a
very flamboyant person, who always sought the attention of the
cameras. Mr Brammertz is very discrete, I can hardly remember Mr
Brammertz giving an interview since he has held international jobs and
I do not think that he will be doing so straight away."
Hariri assassination
Mr Brammertz used quiet diplomacy, for example, when he led the UN
investigation committee into the assassination of the former Lebanese
prime minister Rafiq Hariri. His predecessor in the committee - the
German, Detlev Mehlis - was boycotted by Syria, because he suggested
that Syria was behind the attack on Hariri.
His cautious approach made Serge Brammertz easier to accept for Syria.
His extensive investigation has provided a number of possible
suspects, but their names have not been released up to now. That will
only happen after the Hariri Tribunal starts at the beginning of 2009
in the former Dutch AIVD intelligence service building in Leidschendam
near The Hague.
Dutroux affair
Serge Brammertz has enjoyed splendid career. He started out as a
lawyer in Verviers, but soon became a professor at the University of
Liège. During the Dutroux affair in 1997 - the Belgian paedophile and
child murder case which made world news - he was the top official of
the Public Prosecution. He also started up a number of terrorism
trials in Belgium. Mr Brammertz was also a deputy prosecutor at the
International Criminal Court in The Hague, before the United Nations
appointed him chief investigator in the Hariri case.
Controversial
In spite of his international credentials, Mr Brammertz's arrival at
the Yugoslavia Tribunal is controversial. Insiders at the United
Nations suspect a deal was made with Mr Brammertz to switch him from
the sensitive Hariri investigation to the Yugoslavia Tribunal.
Almost all former Del Ponte staff had asked UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon to appoint American deputy prosecutor David Tolbert as chief
prosecutor. Human rights organisations also warned Mr Ban that Serge
Brammertz is new to the tribunal and has to be taught the ropes. David
Tolbert has worked there for nine years already and could easily take
over Ms Del Ponte's job.
Mr Tolbert may have been passed over because of his nationality. The
United States is in favour of an independent Kosovo and Serbia is
therefore unlikely to accept an American chief prosecutor.
* RNW translation (nc)
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