International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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| International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia | |
|---|---|
 The Tribunal building in The Hague | |
| Established | 25 May 1993 |
| Jurisdiction | former Yugoslavia |
| Location | The Hague, the Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°04′04″N 4°21′13″E / 52.0679°N 4.3535°ECoordinates: 52°04′04″N 4°21′13″E / 52.0679°N 4.3535°E |
| Authorized by | United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 |
| Judge term length | Four years |
| Number of positions | 16 permanent 12 ad litem |
| Website | http://www.icty.org/ |
| President | |
| Currently | Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica) |
| Since | 17 November 2008 |
| Jurist term ends | 2010 |
The Court was established by Resolution 827 of the United Nations Security Council, which was passed on 25 May 1993. It has jurisdiction over four clusters of crime committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991: grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of war, genocide, and crime against humanity. The maximum sentence it can impose is life imprisonment. Various countries have signed agreements with the UN to carry out custodial sentences. The last indictment was issued 15 March 2004. The Tribunal aims to complete all trials by the middle of 2011 and all appeals by 2013, with the exception of Radovan Karadžić whose trial is expected to end in 2012 and the appeal to be heard by February 2014.[1] Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić have been charged, however are still at large and thus do not fall within the court's completion strategy.[2]
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia should not be confused with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice; both courts are also based in The Hague, but have a permanent status and different jurisdictions.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] History
The Court was originally proposed by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel.[3] By 25 May 1993, the international community had tried to pressure the leaders of the former Yugoslavian republics diplomatically, militarily, politically, economically, and – with Resolution 827 – through juridical means. However, the new international tribunal was viewed very skeptically. Skeptics argued that an international court could not function while the war in the former Yugoslavia was still going on. This would be a huge undertaking for any court but it for the ICTY it would be even a bigger undertaking as the new tribunal still needed judges, a prosecutor, a registrar, investigative and support staff, an extensive interpretation and translation system, a legal aid structure, premises, equipment, courtrooms, detention facilities, guards and all the related funding. In 1993, the ICTY built its internal infrastructure, in 1994 the first indictment was issued against the Bosnian-Serb concentration camp commander Dragan Nikolić and in 1995 the second indictment was issued against a group of 21 Bosnian-Serbs who were charged with committing atrocities against Muslim and Croat civilian prisoners. While the war in the former Yugoslavia was still raging, the ICTY prosecutors showed that an international court was viable. However, no accused was arrested.[4]1993-1994: In the first year of its existence, the Tribunal laid the foundations for its existence as a judicial organ. The international court established the legal framework of the Tribunal s operations by adopting the rules of procedure and evidence, as well as its rules of detention and directive for the assignment of defense counsel. Together these rules established a legal aid system for the Tribunal. As the ICTY was part of the United Nations and as it was the first international court for criminal justice, the development of a juridical infrastructure considered quite a challenge. However after the first year the first ICTY judges had drafted and adopted all the rules for court proceedings.
1994-1995: The ICTY completed a courtroom and detention facilities in Scheveningen in The Hague (The Netherlands). The ICTY hired now many staff members. By July 1994 there were sufficient staff members in the office of the prosecutor to begin field investigations and by November 1994 the first indictment was presented and confirmed. In 1995, the entire staff numbered more than 200 persons and came from all over the world. Moreover, some governments assigned their legally trained people to the ICTY. The court confirmed 8 indictments against 46 individuals and issued arrest warrants. Duško Tadic´ became the subject of the Tribunal's first trial. The Bosnian-Serb Duško Tadić was arrested by German police in Munich in 1994 for his alleged actions in the Prijedor region in Bosnia-Herzegovina (especially his actions in the Omarska, Trnopolje and Keraterm detention camps). Tadic´ made his initial appearance before the ICTY Trial Chamber on 26 April 1995 and pleaded not guilty to all of the charges in the indictment.
1995-1996: Between June 1995 and June 1996, 10 public indictments had been confirmed against a total of 33 individuals. Six of the newly indicted persons were transferred in the tribunals detention unit. In addition to Duško Tadic, by June of 1996 the tribunal had Tihofil Blaškic, Dražen Erdemovic, Zejnil Delalic, Zdravko Mucic, Esad Landžo and Hazim Delic in custody. The accused Erdemovic became the first person to enter a guilty plea before the tribunal's court. Between 1995 and 1996, the ICTY also dealt with miscellaneous cases involving several detainees - Djukic, Krsmanovic, Kremenovic, Lajic - which never reached the trial stage. Some of the accused had been arrested and others surrendered to the ICTY. However, most of the new states that came out of Yugoslavia - most notably Serbia and the Serbian entity in Bosnia-Hertzegovina - refused to cooperate with the international tribunal.
[edit] Organization
The Tribunal employs around 1,200 staff. Its organisational components are Chambers, Registry and the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP).
The Registry is responsible for handling the administration of the Tribunal; activities include keeping court records, translating court documents, transporting and accommodating those who appear to testify, operating the Public Information Section, and such general duties as payroll administration, personnel management and procurement. It is also responsible for the Detention Unit for indictees being held during their trial and the Legal Aid program for indictees who cannot pay for their own defence. It is headed by the Registrar, currently John Hocking of Australia (since May 2009). His predecessors were Hans Holthuis of the Netherlands (2001–2009), Dorothée de Sampayo Garrido-Nijgh of the Netherlands (1995–2000), and Theo van Boven of the Netherlands (February 1994 to December 1994).
The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is responsible for investigating crimes, gathering evidence and prosecuting indictees. It is headed by the Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz. Previous Prosecutors have been Ramón Escovar Salom of Venezuela (1993–1994), Richard Goldstone of South Africa (1994–1996), Louise Arbour of Canada (1996–1999), Eric Östberg of Sweden, and Carla Del Ponte of Switzerland (1999–2007), who until 2003, simultaneously served as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda where she led the OTP since 1999.
[edit] Judges
There are 16 permanent judges and 12 ad litem judges who serve on the tribunal. They are elected to four-year terms by the UN General Assembly. They can be re-elected.On 17 November 2008, Judge Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica) was elected as the new President of the ICTY by the permanent judges in an Extraordinary Plenary Session. Judge O-Gon Kwon (South Korea) was elected as the new Vice-President.[5]
http://www.icty.org/sid/151
[edit] Detention facilities
Photograph provided courtesy of the ICTY.
The indicted are housed in private cells which have a toilet, shower, radio, satellite TV, personal computer (without Internet access) and other comforts. They are allowed to phone family and friends daily and can have conjugal visits. There is also a library, a gym and various rooms used for religious observances. The inmates are allowed to cook for themselves. All of the inmates mix freely and are not segregated on the basis of nationality; Serbian and Bosnian Muslim detainees (once mortal enemies) now reportedly share friendly chess and backgammon games and watch film screenings. As the cells are more akin to a university residence instead of a jail, some have derisively referred to the ICT as the “Hague Hilton”.[6]
The reason for this luxury relative to other prisons is that the first president of the court wanted to emphasise that the indictees are innocent until proven guilty.[7]
[edit] Activity
[edit] Accomplishments
In 2004, the ICTY published a list of five successes which it claimed it had accomplished:[8]- "Spearheading the shift from impunity to accountability", pointing out that, until very recently, it was the only court judging crimes committed as part of the Yugoslav conflict, since prosecutors in the former Yugoslavia were, as a rule, reluctant to prosecute such crimes;
- "Establishing the facts", highlighting the extensive evidence-gathering and lengthy findings of fact that Tribunal judgments produced;
- "Bringing justice to thousands of victims and giving them a voice", pointing out the large number of witnesses that had been brought before the Tribunal;
- "The accomplishments in international law", describing the fleshing out of several international criminal law concepts which had not been ruled on since the Nuremberg Trials;
- "Strengthening the Rule of Law", referring to the Tribunal's role in promoting the use of international standards in war crimes prosecutions by former Yugoslav republics.
[edit] Indictees
Since the very first hearing (referral request in the Tadić case) on 8 November, 1994, the Tribunal has indicted 161 individuals, and has already completed proceedings with regard to 100 of them: five have been acquitted, 48 sentenced (seven are awaiting transfer, 24 have been transferred, 16 have served their term, and one died while serving his sentence), 11 have had their cases transferred to local courts. Another 36 cases have been terminated (either because indictments were withdrawn or because the accused died, before or after transfer to the Tribunal).As of November 2008, there were eight ongoing trials and a further four cases in the pre-trial stage. Ten further cases are at the appeals stage and two accused, Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić, are still at large.[9]
The accused currently at the appeals stage include Sefer Halilović, Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu (who have been acquitted and released but against whom an appeal by the Office of the Prosecutor is running), as well as Amir Kubura and Naser Orić. These two accused have been sentenced and granted early release (Kubura) and release (Orić), but the OTP has appealed against the Trial Chamber's Judgements.
A further 19 individuals have also been the subject of contempt proceedings.[10]
The indictees ranged from common soldiers to generals and police commanders all the way to Prime Ministers. Slobodan Milošević was the first sitting head of state indicted for war crimes.[11] Other "high level" indictees included Milan Babić, President of the Republika Srpska Krajina; Ramush Haradinaj, former Prime Minister of Kosovo; Radovan Karadžić, former President of the Republika Srpska; Ratko Mladić, former Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army and Ante Gotovina, former General of the Croatian Army.
Haradinaj's trial began at The Hague on 5 March 2007[12] and the closing brief was given on 23 January 2008.[13] The final decision of the ICTY was expected in March 2008.
On 3 April 2008, ICTY issued a public notice of the Haradinaj verdict, in which he was acquitted of all charges. The judge said much of the evidence had been non-existent against Mr. Haradinaj or at best inconclusive. [14] But he also complained of witness intimidation, saying some witnesses had not testified because they had been afraid.[15]
On 31 July 2008, Karadžić appeared in front of the judges of the tribunal.
On 21 July 2010, the cases of UÇK (Kosovo Liberation Army) commanders Ramush Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj were re-opened for re-trial. [16]
[edit] Criticism
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008) |
- Two key indictees are still not apprehended, which reflects badly on its image. Defenders point out that the Tribunal has no powers of arrest, and is reliant on other agencies (notably national governments, EUFOR, and KFOR) to apprehend and extradite indictees.
- Critics have questioned whether the Tribunal exacerbates tensions rather than promotes reconciliation,[citation needed] as is claimed by Tribunal supporters. Polls show a generally negative reaction to the Tribunal among the Serb and Croat public.[citation needed] The majority of Croats and Serbs doubt the tribunal's integrity and question the tenability of its legal procedures (although the Serbian and Croatian opinions on the court are almost always exactly the opposite with regard to the cases that involve both parties).[citation needed] Kosovo Albanians and Bosnian Muslims, on the other hand, have expressed their high regard for the court and the trust in its impartiality though these feelings change when their own individuals stand accused of atrocities against opponents.[citation needed]
- Critics, even within the United Nations, have complained of the Tribunal's high cost. The two-year budget for the Tribunal for 2004 and 2005 was $271,854,600 (currently $303 million).[17] The cost is borne by all U.N. members.
- Critics have also complained of the length of trials, with some extending for several years. Supporters of the Tribunal respond that many of the defendants are charged with multiple crimes against many victims, all of which must be proven beyond reasonable doubt, thus requiring long trials. Simultaneous translation also slows trials.
- Some three-quarters of indictees thus far have been Serbs (or Montenegrins),[citation needed] to the extent that a sizeable portion of the Bosnian Serb and Serbian political and military leaderships have been indicted, while there have been far fewer indictments resulting from crimes committed against Serbs.[citation needed] Critics of the tribunal have seen this as reflecting bias, while the tribunal's defenders have seen this as indicative of the actual proportion of crimes committed.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- Command responsibility
- Joint Criminal Enterprise
- International Criminal Court
- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
- List of indictees of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
- Arrest and prosecution of Radovan Karadžić
[edit] References
- ^ ICTY Completion Strategy
- ^ [1]
- ^ Hazan, Pierre. 2004. Justice in a Time of War: The True Story Behind the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. College Station: Texas A & M University Press
- ^ Pronk, E.: "The ICTY and the people from the former Yugoslavia. A reserved relationship."
- ^ Judge Robinson elected new ICTY President from Hague Justice Portal
- ^ Evans, Judith (26 October 2009). "Radovan Karadzic cell life". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6891319.ece. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Stephen, Chris (13 March 2006). "Milosevic jail under scrutiny". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4801626.stm. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ 'The Tribunal's Accomplishments in Justice and Law' http://www.icty.org/x/file/Outreach/view_from_hague/jit_accomplishments_en.pdf
- ^ Calendar of court proceedings before the ICTY: Hague Justice Portal
- ^ UN Site
- ^ ASIL.org
- ^ Washington Post/Associated Press, Ex-Kosovo PM Pleads Innocent at Hague, 1 March 2007
- ^ Closing Arguments in Haradinaj Trial
- ^ Hague court acquits Kosovo ex-PM from BBC News
- ^ Hague court acquits Kosovo ex-PM from BBC News
- ^ Partial re-trial for Haradinaj, Balaj and Brahimaj
- ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
- ^ Hannan, Daniel (26 February 2007). "He went unsung to his grave". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/daniel_hannan/blog/2007/02/26/he_went_unsung_to_his_grave. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
[edit] Further reading
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[edit] External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |
- Official website of ICTY
- International Progress Organization: Monitoring of the ICTY
- Del Ponte, Carla (2003). The role of international criminal prosecutions in reconstructing divided communities, public lecture by Carla Del Ponte, Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, given at the London School of Economics, 20 October 2003.
- Topical digests of the case law of ICTR and ICTY, Human Rights Watch, 2004
- Hague Justice Portal: Academic gateway to The Hague organisations concerning international peace, justice and security.
- Calendar of court proceedings before the ICTY: Hague Justice Portal
- Why Journalists Should be Worried by the Rwanda Tribunal Precedents (deals also with ICTY) by Thierry Cruvellier for Reporters Without Borders
- SENSE News Agency, a special project based in ICTY
- Complete web-based video archive of the Milosevic trial
- War Crimes, conditionality and EU integration in the Western Balkans, by Vojin Dimitrijevic, Florence Hartmann, Dejan Jovic, Tija Memisevic, edited by Judy Batt, Jelena Obradović, Chaillot Paper No. 116, June 2009, European Union Institute for Security Studies
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