ICTY: REGISTRAR THANKS USG FOR RULES OF THE ROAD

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 002161 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI - PROSPER/RICHARD, EUR - ROSSIN, EUR/SCE - STEPHENS/GREGORIAN, L/EUR - LAHNE, L/AF - GTAFT. INR/WCAD - SEIDENSTRICKER; IO - JACOBSON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: BK HR NL PHUM PREL SR ICTY KAWS SUBJECT: ICTY: REGISTRAR THANKS USG FOR RULES OF THE ROAD CONTRIBUTION REF: 2002 THE HAGUE 3451 ¶1. EMBASSY HAS RECEIVED THE LETTER THAT FOLLOWS IN PARAGRAPH TWO REGARDING USG CONTRIBUTION TO THE ICTY RULES OF THE ROAD PROJECT. ¶2. // BEGIN TEXT OF LETTER// Clifton M. Johnson Office of the Legal Counselor Embassy of the United States of America Lange Voorhout 102 2514 EJ The Hague 01 August 2003 Dear Mr. Johnson, The United States Government has made a contribution on USD$ 175,000 in support of the continuation of the Rules of the Road project of the Tribunal. Please be informed that this amount shall be subject to the thirteen (13) per cent programme support costs, in accordance with the United Nations regulations. On behalf of the Tribunal, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the continuous support the United States had given to the Tribunal. Yours Sincerely, /S/ Hans Holthuis Registrar //END TEXT OF LETTER// ¶3. Comment. As indicated in reftel, the Rules of the Road program was in dire financial straits until the USG contribution. Earlier in the summer the ICTY Deputy Prosecutor and other senior officials in the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) extended their personal thanks for the USG's donation, without which this important program would have died. The OTP is currently formulating with OHR a joint plan that would transition the Rules of the Road program to Sarajevo in order to ensure that the tremendous expertise it has developed will be available to the new State Court and contribute to the Tribunal's completion strategy. End comment. SOBEL