GOC PLEDGES CONTINUED COOPERATION WITH ICTY; PM TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000933 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR DICARLO, EUR/SCE HOH AND BALIAN DEPT FOR S/WCI WILLIAMSON DEPT FOR INR/MORIN NSC FOR BRAUN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2017 TAGS: KAWC ICTY PREL PGOV HR SUBJECT: GOC PLEDGES CONTINUED COOPERATION WITH ICTY; PM TO ATTEND UN REVIEW OF ICTY TO PROTEST OVCARA VERDICT REF: ZAGREB 908 Classified By: POL/ECON Rick Holtzapple, Reasons 1.4 B/D SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Parties from across the political spectrum in Croatia have denounced the ICTY's verdicts on the "Vukovar Three" (reftel) as "shameful", but only fringe groups have called into question Croatia's continued cooperation with the ICTY. Nonetheless, public frustrations continue to simmer, and politicians continue to maneuver to find the most effective way of responding. PM Sanader sent a strongly-worded protest letter to the UNSC and to the ICTY President. At a parliamentary debate on the ruling, however, Sanader insisted that cooperation with the ICTY must and will continue. Sanader plans to attend the UNGA's review of ICTY activities in New York on October 15, but told the Ambassador on October 8 "not to worry." President Mesic, who unsuccessfully urged Sanader not to raise the stakes by going to NY, has also called the verdicts "absolutely not acceptable" and suggested efforts to try the three men in Croatia. In an October 5 meeting with visiting S/WCI Clint Williamson, Mesic acknowledged none of the men was likely to ever be extradited to Croatia. Nonetheless, renewed legal proceedings against the men in Croatian courts are likely. In our view, the more serious risk is that the light Ovcara sentences, if upheld on appeal, will influence current domestic trials of alleged Croatian war criminals, making convictions and stiff sentences in those cases very difficult to secure. END SUMMARY. MESIC: VERDICTS "NOT ACCEPTABLE" -------------- ¶2. (U) President Mesic, in repeated public statements, has expressed his disappointment at the ICTY verdicts against the Vukovar Three (one acquittal, one five-year sentence, and one twenty-year sentence for a crime with 194 murders) and indicated his hope that the appeals chamber would reach a different conclusion. Mesic added that he wanted to see the three individuals indicted by Croatian prosecutors and to re-establish the chain of command responsibility for events in Vukovar in 1991. While he recognized that they could not be charged again for the Ovcara massacre, the same individuals could be indicted domestically for the siege and destruction of Vukovar. (Note: All three individuals are among those indicted by Croatian State Prosecutors in 2002 for crimes associated with the Ovcara massacre and crimes in Vukovar. Two remain in detention in The Hague and the third, now in Serbia, cannot be extradited under Serbian law as he is a citizen of that country.) ¶3. (C) In an October 4 meeting with visiting EUR/SCE Director Hoh, Presidential advisor Tomislav Jakic said Mesic had been disturbed by some of the domestic political reaction to the Ovcara verdict. "We should not even dream of ending our cooperation with the ICTY," Jakic said. Jakic added that Mesic's relations with Prime Minister Sanader were "momentarily strained" due to Mesic's opposition to Sanader's plans to attend the October 15 UNGA session on ICTY. Mesic was particularly concerned, Jakic said, that Sanader would attempt to "politicize" the trip, and felt that while the Croatian PermRep at the UN should register Croatia's disappointment at the verdict, the GoC should not raise the stakes any higher. (NOTE: While the opposition leader, SDP President Zoran Milanovic, has complained publicly about Sanader manipulating the issue, SDP officials have told us privately that they feel that, at least so far, Sanader has gained political respect locally for his deft handling of the issue. END NOTE.) ¶4. (C) President Mesic met on October 5 with War Crimes Ambassador-at-large Clint Williamson, who was in Croatia for a conference on regional cooperation in war crimes prosecution. Williamson noted his personal surprise at the verdict and noted there is a chance the sentences will be increased upon appeal. Mesic expressed his appreciation for Williamson's public statement, and reiterated his expectation that Croatia would continue to seek legal avenues to prosecute the perpetrators of Ovcara and Vukovar, even though he acknowledged it was unlikely they would ever be extradited to Croatia. SANADER: PROTEST TO ICTY, WILL ATTEND UN SESSION ZAGREB 00000933 002 OF 002 -------------- -- ¶5. (U) For his part, PM Sanader sent a protest letter the day after the verdict was released to the UN Secretary General and the ICTY expressing his disappointment with the "shameful" verdict. "The time has come to seriously re-examine all the aspects of the work of the Hague tribunal, particularly in the context of its failure to serve justice in a balanced, even, and objective manner," the letter read. Sanader asked for the letter to be distributed to member states, and announced he planned to attend the UNGA on October 15, when a debate is already scheduled on the ICTY,s work. ¶6. (U) Sanader, however, is clearly aware of the worries in some quarters that an excessive Croatian reaction would damage Croatia's own international standing. At the October 3 parliamentary debate on the verdict, Sanader reaffirmed the GOC,s commitment to cooperate with the ICTY. He reminded parliamentarians that the reaction to the verdict should not only be emotional, but required "both heart and mind." He opposed, as did a majority of parliamentarians, a right-wing party's effort to call for a referendum ending GoC cooperation with the ICTY. The GOC, he stressed, has the right to continue cooperating with and, at the same time, criticising the ICTY. Sanader proposed the establishment of an international assembly of international law experts to assess the verdict and the performance of the tribunal, although he did not provide details. He also echoed Mesic,s call for the start of a domestic trial against the three, along with several others who were indicted for crimes associated with Ovcara and Vukovar. ¶7. (C/NF) In a brief October 8 chat, Sanader told the Ambassador, "don't worry about New York." He had MFA State Secretary Biscevic follow-up with a phone call to stress that SIPDIS Sanader would be "careful" in his UNGA presentation, and would focus on the victims of Ovcara and their need for justice, and the broader context that verdicts such as this one do not damage the principle that perpetrators of such crimes all around the world need to be held accountable. Nonetheless, FM Grabar-Kitarovic (protect) in a private conversation told the Ambassador that she saw little to gain from the PM's trip to New York since his intervention may only serve to highlight the GoC's inability to do anything more to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS CONTINUE, BOTH IN CROATIA AND SERBIA -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) On 4 October, Croatian State Prosecutors requested the detention of Miroslav Radic (the acquitted ICTY indictee) and police issued an international arrest warrant for him based on other crimes committed in Vukovar in 1991. The case may begin next month, presumably in absentia, since Radic is unlikely to be extradited by Serbia. Serbian State Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic, in Croatia for the war crimes conference, also expressed understanding for the anger in Croatia over the verdict. He added, however, that his office continues to pursue those responsible for Ovcara and another set of killings in the town of Lovas. BRADTKE