Briefing by war crimes tribunal prosecutors
Alan
accounts (CNN, Reuters, Tanjug, etc) of Carla del Ponte's press conference
of November 10, here is the complete official account of what has been
stated there, in the UN press room, after her report in front of the
Security Council.
Source:
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/1999/19991110.delponte.brf.doc.html
QUOTE:
BRIEFING BY WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL PROSECUTORS
The new Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the
former Yugoslavia and Rwanda told correspondents this afternoon that her
task was daunting and required the continued support of the Security
Council and the international community.
The Chief Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, appeared at a Headquarters press
briefing with Graham Blewitt, Deputy Prosecutor of the Yugoslavia Tribunal,
who underlined the challenges facing the court. They were introduced by
Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Mr. Blewitt said that through the creation of the two Tribunals, the
international community had designed a powerful enforcement mechanism for
international humanitarian law. Indeed, the International Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia had already reported to the Security Council the "total
defiance" shown by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in refusing to
surrender those indicted and accused. As a result, Serbia was becoming a
"safe haven" for those accused of serious war crimes in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo.
"This situation cannot be allowed to continue", he went on. Further,
Croatia could not be allowed to withhold its cooperation on the basis of
its unilateral decision that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to
investigate the operation of its armed forces in operations “Storm” and
“Flash”.
He said it was essential for the success of the Tribunal that States not be
permitted to dictate to its independent prosecutor what events should and
should not be investigated. The subjects of international criminal law were
individuals, not States or entire peoples. Decisions about individual
investigations and prosecutions lay with the Tribunal's prosecutor.
The Chief Prosecutor had recently completed her first visit to the former
Yugoslavia, visiting Skopje, Pristina, Sarajevo, Banja Luca and Zagreb,
meeting with officials in all locations. She had also met with the
commanders of the Kosovo Security Force (KFOR) and the NATO led
stabilization force (SFOR), as well as with the Secretary-General's Special
Representatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. The Prosecutor had
visited exhumation sites in Kosovo and a mortuary site in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. There she had seen first-hand the human remains of the
victims.
Continuing, he said the Prosecutor would also travel to Rwanda to visit her
Office there. She would spend several weeks in Kigali and Arusha. She had
already met the Chief Prosecutor and Military Prosecutor of Rwanda, as well
as the Rwandan Ambassador in Brussels. That meeting was the first time that
Rwandan officials had visited the Rwandan Tribunal in The Hague. Since
then, however, the Tribunal's relations with the Rwandan Government might
have been affected by the latter’s reaction to the Tribunal Appeals
Chamber’s decision to release one of the Rwandan accused and dismiss the
charges against him.
He said the Prosecutor was very concerned about the circumstances of that
case and about the Court's findings of delays so great as to amount to a
violation of the rights of the accused. She had very much regretted the
criticism of the Office of the Prosecutor for not having acted diligently
in that prosecution, but she would have to spend some time in Rwanda to
better understand the situation. Meanwhile, she would reserve any further
comments about the work of the Rwanda Tribunal.
Ms. Del Ponte spoke on the issue of arrests made in connection with the
Yugoslavia Tribunal. She said that, in Bosnia and Herzegovina where
international forces were present, 14 of the accused had been detained by
SFOR since July 1997; four had been detained this year. She hoped the
momentum would be sustained and the figures would continue to rise. That
successful record was most encouraging; she would work hard to maintain
that level of cooperation with SFOR and continue to press for increasingly
strong action against all of the accused who had not yet been arrested,
including those at the highest level.
She said there were accused individuals who were "beyond the reach" of
SFOR; their arrest posed quite a different question. The Tribunal itself
could do only so much. She required the support of national governments and
international institutions. Moreover, she could not overemphasize the
support that the Security Council could give the Tribunal.
Much of her work this year had concerned Kosovo, she said, explaining that
her office had had to act quickly before evidence was lost. For the past
five months, her office had been working with forensic personnel from 14
countries who had contributed forensic pathology and crime scene teams, the
last of which had left Kosovo on 31 October. She now had a preliminary
analysis of the first findings, although not all the forensic reports had
been completed.
There had been a lot of speculation about the number of people killed in
Kosovo, she went on. Some people had expected the Tribunal to provide the
definitive answer, but her task was not to prepare a complete list of war
casualties; it was rather to gather evidence relevant to criminal charges.
Her initial focus, understandably, had been to investigate those places
listed as crime scenes in the indictment against President Slobodan
Milosevic and other leaders. Her work had expanded beyond that
investigation, but it was not her mission to compile a complete census of
deaths.
Nevertheless, she said, her staff had collected some relevant statistics,
given that it might be some time before all of the evidence was presented
before a court, and given the legitimate public interest in the nature of
her findings in the meantime. She had received reports of 529 gravesites,
including those where exposed bodies had been found. As of today,
approximately one third of those gravesites had been examined, and work had
been completed at 195 sites. In total, 4,266 bodies had reportedly been
buried in those sites. To date, 2,108 bodies had been exhumed.
Continuing, she said that figure did not necessarily reflect the actual
number of actual victims, because evidence of grave tampering had been
discovered. There was also a significant number of sites where the precise
number of bodies could not be counted. In those places, steps had been
taken to hide the evidence. Many bodies had been burned, but the forensic
evidence was nonetheless consistent with witness accounts of the crimes.
The figures themselves might not tell the whole story. She would not expect
the forensic evidence in isolation to produce a definitive total, although
it could help to establish the total number of dead.
She said the overall pattern of killing was coming into focus: there was a
large number of relatively small sites; she did not typically find hundreds
of people. A few sites had contained the remains of some 100 people, but
often the number was much smaller, and sometimes the reports of buried
victims were not borne out at all. Many of the bodies, including those of
women and children, were positively identified, and often the names of
individual victims were well known. Again, confirming identification was
not the primary objective of her office.
In summary, she said she had in her possession invaluable documentation of
what had happened to many people in many places in Kosovo. There was no
substitute for that kind of accurate information, as that evidence would
eventually stand up in a court of law. She was preparing now for next year,
when she hoped to complete the investigation of crime scenes and mass
graves. She wished to complete the forensic investigation of all remaining
sites as soon as possible. There was a continuing risk that some of them
might be disturbed prior to that examination. Despite the completed
exhumations, it was still not known how many bodies would be found. More
than 2,000 had been found, out of a reported total of 11,334.
Given the same level of resources next year, she said it was possible to
finish the entire forensic programme in a single season. Her goal was to
complete the task; it could not be left half-finished. There was a lot of
work remaining, but she would not allow the Kosovo investigations to
detract from other prosecutions relating to Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Croatia. The year 2000 would see a full range of activities from the Office
of the Prosecutor.
Asked about possible Security Council intervention to secure the
cooperation of the Croatian Government, she said the Government’s position
was not very clear. It had indicated its willingness to find a solution;
its objection had referred to a lack of jurisdiction. She had therefore
asked the Council to intervene in order to force Croatia to cooperate with
the Tribunal. The Council must decide the nature of any intervention. The
President of the Tribunal was writing two letters to the Council on the
matter. The Prosecutor underlined that such cooperation was necessary,
especially in order to obtain documentation concerning operations “Storm”
and “Flash”.
Given the reference to a total of 11,334 reported deaths in Kosovo and to
some 4,000 reportedly found in the gravesites, a correspondent asked about
the whereabouts of the other 7,000 bodies.
Ms. Del Ponte said it must first be determined whether there were 7,000
more bodies to discover. The information she had was from such sources as
witnesses and non-governmental organizations. It must be made clear if that
number were real or not. So far, she had exhumed some 2,000. It was winter,
and the work would have to wait until spring.
When a correspondent suggested that the number of actual deaths might be
roughly half of the reported 10,000 to 11,000 victims, Mr. Blewitt said it
was difficult for the Prosecutor's Office to comment on numbers quoted by
other sources. It had fairly strong reports of more than 4,000 missing
victims, and the forensic investigations had been aimed at those identified
sites that were associated with those victims. As the investigation
continued next year, it might be possible to reconcile the numbers. The
results of the forensic work would be announced and would provide some
certainty about the actual number of victims.
Asked whether genocide charges could be filed if the death toll were lower,
he said "it's really not a numbers game to determine whether or not
genocide has been committed". It was purely a legal question as to whether
or not the accused had the specific intent to commit the crime of genocide.
Other evidence would be used to establish that fact. He was in fact
investigating whether or not genocide had occurred, a definitive
pronouncement on that would be the issuing of indictments.
Ms. Del Ponte added that genocide was the organized intention to destroy
systematically an ethnic group or a group of people. What was important was
not only how many had been killed, but how they had been killed.
To a series of follow-up questions concerning the findings, Mr. Blewitt
said more than 500 sites had been associated with the 4,000 bodies. He had
only completed examination of 195. Estimates of 11,000 bodies had been
derived from news reports, including an estimate by the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) of some 10,000 victims.
Ms. Del Ponte added that, by next year, all bodies would be exhumed from
all sites, which would provide a better indication. She was working on the
investigation, case by case. She could only disclose what she had found in
the course of that investigation. She did not have enough information to
provide a fuller answer.
Asked if all the victims found so far had been ethnic Albanians, the Chief
Prosecutor said yes, most had been Kosovo Albanians, but she had
indications that numbers of other ethnic groups would be found.
Mr. Blewitt said there were a number of small graves where Serb victims had
been identified through the forensic work, but the victims had been
predominantly Kosovo Albanians.
Were the suspected killers Serbs attempting ethnic cleansing? another
correspondent asked. Ms. Del Ponte said most of the suspected perpetrators
were Serbs but there were other suspects, including Muslims. There was also
an open inquiry about KLA activity.
Another correspondent asked how many people who had been indicted but not
yet arrested were believed to be in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Was it "normal"
for the prosecutor to have to "press" the police, in this case SFOR, to
make arrests? Was she satisfied that they were really doing all they
should?
Ms. Del Ponte said it was true, a public prosecutor must not press the
police to make the arrests; it was for her to provide the arrest warrant or
order, and for the police to execute it. The SFOR, however, was military in
character and not a police group. She was asking SFOR and KFOR to be "more
proactive" in searching for the suspects. Many of the fugitives have been
free for many years. The time had come to arrest them. Some of them were in
Serbia, but normally they crossed borders. She had therefore requested that
attention be paid to the borders.
She said she was very satisfied with SFOR's performance in the light of the
arrests that had been made. The SFOR was really cooperating with her, and
she was confident there would be more arrests.
Asked if she intended to look into the possibility that NATO had committed
war crimes, she said she had received many reports about such NATO
intervention, and was looking very carefully at them. She would take a
decision about that and make it public, but that was not her priority.
Asked why not, she said her priority was the open inquiry she had found
upon taking office on 15 November.
Mr. Blewitt said that the selection of sites to be investigated had been
based primarily on the existing indictment against President Milosevic, to
another question. The seven particular villages or sites named in that
indictment were his number one priority. He had selected other sites based
on various criteria that he was not at liberty to disclose. They had not
been based solely on the number of victims; several factors had been
considered.
Asked if she had been satisfied with the support expressed by Member States
in the Security Council, Ms. Del Ponte said she was very satisfied because
she had received important support. She had asked the Council to make an
intervention against the States which were not cooperating with her Office;
she was awaiting a response.
The priority was the open inquiry she had found upon undertaking her
function on 15 September, she replied to a question about why the alleged
killing of civilians by NATO was not her priority. She had many ongoing
inquiries, including some related to NATO activities.
UNQUOTE
John Caruso
>Source:
>http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/1999/19991110.delponte.brf.doc.html
Thanks for posting this. There's already been ample discussion of the
fact that 2108 victims, regardless of their identity, is still a far
cry from the amount NATO used to justify their intervention, so I won't
point that out again; instead, I'll just highlight and discuss some
important selections from the release:
>Asked if all the victims found so far had been ethnic Albanians, the Chief
>Prosecutor said yes, most had been Kosovo Albanians, but she had
>indications that numbers of other ethnic groups would be found.
>
>Mr. Blewitt said there were a number of small graves where Serb victims had
>been identified through the forensic work, but the victims had been
>predominantly Kosovo Albanians.
So we don't know the actual totals of Albanians vs. Serbs and other
nationalities (thus far, or for the as yet unexamined sites). "Numbers
of other ethnic group" sounds like more than a small percentage, though.
>Were the suspected killers Serbs attempting ethnic cleansing? another
>correspondent asked. Ms. Del Ponte said most of the suspected perpetrators
>were Serbs but there were other suspects, including Muslims. There was also
>an open inquiry about KLA activity.
This is very interesting. Note that they're "Muslims", not Albanians--
why the coyness? And second, I wonder who they were suspected of
killing? Serbs, or does this refer to KLA killings of Albanians who were
"sympathetic" to the Serbs? Certainly there were stories of such death
threats during the war, and undoubtedly some of them were carried out
under the cover of bombing by the KLA or individuals. So even an Albanian
victim, shot at close range, is not necessarily evidence of a Serb crime.
This bears careful scrutiny in the future as detailed findings are published.
Note the dodge, also--the question specifically mentioned ethnic
cleansing, yet the answer mentions Serbs but NOT ethnic cleansing. So
perhaps some of the suspects were acting on their own, just as many
Albanian citizens are committing violence in Kosovo now without formal
orders of any sort.
>Asked if she intended to look into the possibility that NATO had committed
>war crimes, she said she had received many reports about such NATO
>intervention, and was looking very carefully at them. She would take a
>decision about that and make it public, but that was not her priority.
>Asked why not, she said her priority was the open inquiry she had found
>upon taking office on 15 November.
Here is the single most important paragarph in the article for those
who want to understand the situation. NATO crimes are "not her
priority"? The prima facie evidence against NATO is of lesser concern
to her, because the folder left open on the desk by her predecessor
said "Milosevic"? What a ridiculous excuse.
This is no surprise at all to anyone who knows that the court is far
from being an impartial body (considering that it was established by
NATO countries, is overwhelmingly funded by NATO countries, and staffed
mainly with NATO-country personnel). The politically-timed indictment
of Milosevic revealed the ICTY's leanings for the world to see; this
just seals it. As Jamie Shea said when asked about the possibility of
the ICTY investigating NATO:
I think we have to distinguish between the theoretical and the
practical. I believe that when Justice Arbour starts her
investigation, she will because we will allow her to. It's not
Milosevic that has allowed Justice Arbour her visa to go to Kosovo to
carry out her investigations. If her court, as we want, is to be
allowed access, it will be because of NATO so NATO is the friend of
the Tribunal, NATO are the people who have been detaining indicted war
criminals for the Tribunal in Bosnia. We have done it, 14 arrests so
far by SFOR, and we will continue to do it. NATO countries are those
that have provided the finance to set up the Tribunal, we are amongst
the majority financiers, and of course to build a second chamber so
that prosecutions can be speeded up so let me assure that we and the
Tribunal are all one on this, we want to see war criminals brought to
justice and I am certain that when Justice Arbour goes to Kosovo and
looks at the facts she will be indicting people of Yugoslav
nationality and I don't anticipate any others at this stage.
[ http://www.nato.int/kosovo/press/p990516b.htm ]
Couldn't be much clearer, could it? And gosh, even with that "second
chamber" they still don't have the time to make NATO a priority?
It's all a joke...just not a very funny one.
- John