ICTY PROSECUTOR AND PM AGREE ON TRIAL MONITORING

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000690 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, S/WCI, INR, INL DEPT PLEASE PASS TO NSC BRAUN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KAWC PGOV OSCE ICTY HR WAR CRIMES SUBJECT: ICTY PROSECUTOR AND PM AGREE ON TRIAL MONITORING ¶1. (U) In the 16 July letter below, Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte informs OSCE Chairman-in-Office of her recent discussions with PM Ivo Sanader regarding the future of the OSCE mission in Croatia and the monitoring of war crimes trials. Del Ponte notes what she calls the essential role of OSCE monitoring in the transfer of ICTY cases to national courts and reports reaching agreement with Sanader on the following in the event the mission closes: - trial monitoring capacity should be maintained by the "OSCE Expert Monitoring Team"; - this team would act under the OSCE flag and consist of three to five experts plus support staff (not specified whether team members are international or Croatian); - if need be, this team could be physically co-located with the ICTY's Zagreb liaison office. ¶2. (U) Ministry of Foreign Affairs State Secretary Hidajet Biscevic confirmed to Ambassador July 18 that Sanader had in fact agreed to this proposal. While Sanader and Del Ponte did not discuss the make-up of the expert team in detail, Biscevic told Ambassador he believes it would be a mix of locals and internationals. ¶3. (U) Head of ICTY's Zagreb liaison office Thomas Osorio, who provided letter to PolOff, explained that Del Ponte's "co-location" offer is simply sharing the real estate ICTY already leases in Zagreb and does not imply any change in the OSCE monitors' reporting structure. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Biscevic had previously pressed an idea with us to create a new trial monitoring NGO after mission closure using the local experts currently employed by the OSCE. Acceptance of a team that would remain under the OSCE flag after the mission shuts down represents an evolution in Croatian views that could offer a more widely acceptable closure scenario. END COMMENT. ¶5. (U) BEGIN LETTER TEXT: Excellency In a follow up to my letter of 15 June 2007 regarding the future of the OSCE Mission to Croatia and its capacity to monitor the war crimes trials and upon return from the visit to Croatia last week, I would like to communicate to you the results of my discussions with Prime Minister Ivo Sanadar. There is obviously no need to repeat in details that the OSCE monitoring is an essential element of the whole process of transferring cases from the ICTY to the national courts within the Completion Strategy of the Tribunal approved by the UN Security Council. While in Croatia last week, I had an opportunity to discuss this issue directly with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. Leaving all other aspects of the OSCE Mission's Mandate in Croatia aside, as not directly related to the work of the Office of the Prosecutor, we spoke specifically about the possible mechanisms for the OSCE monitoring of the war crimes trials (the so called Tribunal's Rule 11 bis case and other war crimes cases). We have agreed on the following: if the OSCE decides to close its Mission to Croatia by the end of the year, as announced by the Chairman-in-Office, the monitoring capacity in question can and should be maintained in Croatia by the OSCE Expert Monitoring Team. The Expert Monitoring Team - acting under the OSCE flag and administered by the OSCE - may consist of 3-5 experts with the necessary support staff (depending on the quantity of work and the OSCE assessment). Obviously it is for the OSCE to make the relevant staffing assessments. It was also suggested by me that this OSCE Team if need be and if physically possible can be co-located in the premises of my Liaison Office in Zagreb. Croatian President Stjepan Mesic was also briefed on this agreement last week. Taking this into consideration, I would be very grateful to you to inform me about the ongoing discussions on this issue and solutions envisaged by the OSCE as the key organization in the process. Carla Del Ponte Prosecutor END LETTER TEXT. BRADTKE