Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SARAJEVO161
2008-01-29 13:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Sarajevo
Cable title:  

ICTY LEGACY VISIT TO BOSNIA

Tags:  PGOV PREL KAWC KCRM KJUS BK 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3903
PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVJ #0161/01 0291306
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 291306Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7728
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0517
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 0165
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB PRIORITY 0504
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0087
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUFOAOA/USNIC SARAJEVO BK PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 000161 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (HOH, FOOKS, STINCHCOMB),
S/WCI (WILLIAMSON, LAVINE),EUR/ACE (TEFFT, DUNN),INL
(KIMMEL),
L/EUR - KJOHNSON, INR/GGI - MARGULIES/MORIN; NSC FOR BRAUN;
OSD FOR BEIN; DOJ FOR OPDAT (KARL ALEXANDRE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KAWC KCRM KJUS BK
SUBJECT: ICTY LEGACY VISIT TO BOSNIA

REF: A. 07 SARAJEVO 2555

B. 07 SARAJEVO 2682

C. 07 SARAJEVO 2201

Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Murphy


Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 000161

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (HOH, FOOKS, STINCHCOMB),
S/WCI (WILLIAMSON, LAVINE),EUR/ACE (TEFFT, DUNN),INL
(KIMMEL),
L/EUR - KJOHNSON, INR/GGI - MARGULIES/MORIN; NSC FOR BRAUN;
OSD FOR BEIN; DOJ FOR OPDAT (KARL ALEXANDRE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL KAWC KCRM KJUS BK
SUBJECT: ICTY LEGACY VISIT TO BOSNIA

REF: A. 07 SARAJEVO 2555

B. 07 SARAJEVO 2682

C. 07 SARAJEVO 2201

Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Murphy


Summary
--------------


1. (U) During a January 16-18 visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia
Desk Officer Anna Stinchcomb, S/WCI Special Assistant Matt
Lavine, Embassy The Hague's Deputy Legal Counselor Denise
Manning, and S/WCI Regional FSN Dubravko Bolsec met with key
justice officials, representatives from international
organizations, and NGOs to discuss International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)legacy issues. Key
justice officials largely focused on the challenges they face
in prosecuting war crimes cases, initiatives that are
underway to increase the State Court and State Prosecutor's
efficiency and effectiveness, and competing ideas to
restructure the judiciary. Other themes interlocutors
stressed included whether to house ICTY archives in Sarajevo,
the need for more robust public relations operations from
ICTY and the BiH State Court and State Prosecutor,s Office,
technical problems related to case transfers from ICTY to
Bosnia, the need for continued international presence at the
State Court, and capturing Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic
before the ICTY closes. End Summary.

Top Justice Officials Weigh in
--------------


2. (U) During a January 16-18 visit, Bosnia Desk Officer
Anna Stinchcomb, S/WCI Special Assistant Matt Lavine, Deputy
Legal Counselor at Embassy The Hague Denise Manning, and
S/WCI Regional FSN Dubravko Bolsec met with key justice
officials at the State Court and State Prosecutor,s Office
to discuss issues that will likely arise in Bosnia after the
International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) shuts
down. In meeting with interlocutors, they acknowledged the

progress made by the State Court and State Prosecutor,s
Office over the past six months. This includes the creation
by the State Prosecutor's Office of a case selection strategy
based, in part, on a demographic analysis of war crimes
committed nation-wide, and ongoing work to draft a national
action plan for prosecution of war crimes cases (Ref A).


3. (C) The discussions with Meddzida Kreso, the State
Court's President, and Branko Peric, the President of the
High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC),highlighted
key obstacles each faced and competing ideas they have about
structural changes needed to bolster the judiciary's ability
to prosecute war crimes. Kreso hoped to create satellite
offices of the State Court, aimed at harmonizing policies and
practices at state and entity levels and speeding up the
prosecution of cases (Ref B). She also mentioned creating a
Balkan arrest warrant, along the lines of the EU's arrest
warrant, to allow authorities in the region to return
suspected war criminals to the countries where their alleged
crimes took place. When asked about practical, short-term
steps the Court could take to improve its operations, Kreso
admitted that the Court needed to maximize efficiency in the
use of courtrooms and scheduling of sessions to reduce the
length of trial proceedings (Ref C).


4. (C) Peric voiced concern about the shortage of
high-quality judges at the State Court, which he attributed
to entity Supreme Court and other judges, perception that
the State Court is a lower court, and to a shortage of
qualified applicants. He claimed that the establishment of a
separate appeals court at the State level would increase the
desirability of judgeships. He also claimed that some
cantonal and district courts function better than the State
Court, arguing that it would be better for Bosnia to
decentralize the prosecution of war crimes, so that

SARAJEVO 00000161 002 OF 003


State-level institutions deal only with the most serious
cases. Rather than create satellite offices for the Court as
Kreso had suggested, Peric said Bosnia should address
shortcomings in the present organizational structure to speed
up the processing of war crimes cases. (Note: We support
proposals to make the court more efficient and to solve the
problem of a lack of quality judges, but we have not
commented on the varying proposals from Kreso and Peric. End
Note.) State Prosecutor Marinko Jurcevic took a more
inward-looking approach and attempted to take credit for the
work of the U.S. secondee who is the Head of the Special
Department for War Crimes, such as the planned opening of an
office in Srebrenica. Jurcevic raised familiar complaints
about the political pressure he is under to produce results.

Other Justice Officials on Nuts-and-Bolts Issues
-------------- ---


5. (C) Other justice contacts provided details about the
progress being made and the challenges their institutions
face. The Head of the Special Department for War Crimes said
his office will focus on prosecuting the twenty most
significant war crimes cases in each of five of six
prosecutorial regions. In addition, it is instituting case
activity reporting, coordinating internally and with cantonal
prosecutors to combine cases to lessen the burden on victims,
and coordinating with colleagues in the region on data
collection efforts. Toby Cadman, the Deputy Prosecutor
Registrar, briefed on the draft national action plan for the
prosecution of war crimes, a work in progress.


6. (SBU) U.S. secondee Judge Shireen Fisher stressed
outstanding technical problems, including the need to change
protective orders at the ICTY and the Court's inability to
use audio recordings of ICTY trials because they have not
been redacted. She advocated continued international
presence at the Court, at least on appeals panels,
maintaining that it would provide necessary political cover
to locals. Registrars Biljana Potparic-Lipa and Dubravka
Piotrovski reiterated concerns about the shortage of judges,
and noted the lack of funding for translation, and the need
to maintain salary levels in order to keep staff on board.

The View from International Organizations
--------------


7. (SBU) Representatives from ICTY, the Organization for
Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE),the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP),and the International Committee
for Missing Persons (ICMP) also weighed in on the way ahead.
Donald King, Deputy Head of the ICTY Sarajevo office, opined
that the Court's Special Department for War Crimes would be
in shambles without continued international presence. OSCE
officials cited continuing issues, such as the lack of
information-sharing between judges and the poor quality of
commentary on war crimes cases. Katherine Bomberger, the
Director of ICMP, provided useful details about the types of
information her staff gathers during exhumations of mass
graves that is later passed on to prosecutors. She expressed
willingness to work with the U.S. to continue the dialogue on
ICTY legacy issues with victims and returnee groups, an offer
the group welcomed. John Furnari, a UNDP Project Manager,
briefed the group on the objectives of a transitional justice
project, but admitted that the project will be a hard sell to
the Bosnian public who still expect all or a great majority
of war crimes cases to go to trial.

The View from NGOs
--------------


8. (U) During meetings with local NGOs )- the Research and
Documentation Center - Sarajevo (RDS),the Balkan
Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN),the Mothers of
Srebrenica -- the group heard mixed views about the future.
Mirsad Tokaca, RDS Director, spoke passionately about having
an interactive international center housing ICTY archives in

SARAJEVO 00000161 003 OF 003


Sarajevo, since, according to him, eighty percent of ICTY
cases are related to Bosnia. In a welcome development, he
noted increased cooperation with the State Prosecutor's
Office. Representatives at BIRN, a media outlet which
monitors every case tried at the State Court, stated that in
the past two years, they have seen greater public trust in
the authorities' ability to prosecute cases and greater
efforts by judges to shield the identity of witnesses during
proceedings. However, they noted that the State Court and
State Prosecutor's Office lacked effective public relations
departments, that they had had difficulty in gaining access
to public information, and that other media outlets engage in
selective, biased reporting.


9. (U) This generally positive outlook contrasted sharply
with those of the Mothers of Srebrenica, who complained
bitterly about what they characterized as the failure of
Bosnian authorities and the international community to arrest
Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. They said they would
discuss what they deemed an insufficient number of
investigators assigned to Srebrenica in an upcoming meeting
with the State Prosecutor,s Office (Note: The Prosecutor's
Office has assigned four investigators to Srebrenica, not one
as the Mothers claimed. End Note.) In closing, they
requested that the United States share all documents,
especially aerial photography, related to the Srebrenica
massacre, including those that have not been passed to ICTY.
The Mothers also said they plan to publish a book next year
in which they accuse Richard Holbrooke of making a secret
deal granting Karadzic immunity from arrest.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) Overall, the U.S. delegation was pleased with the
progress of the State Court and State Prosecutor,s Office in
the last year. The State Prosecutor,s case selection
strategy, along with the national action plan for war crimes
(once completed, adopted, and implemented),will go a long
way towards increasing the efficiency and transparency of
both the Court and Prosecutor,s Office. The gains made so
far are the result of the work of international officials
present at both institutions -- officials whose mandate must
end, according to legislation, by 2009. If the international
presence is not extended beyond 2009, there is a risk that
recent progress and the positive momentum at the State Court
and State Prosecutor's Office will be lost.


11. (C) Comment cont. The location of the ICTY archives
will be a difficult issue to manage politically over the
coming months. Most internationals believe that BiH is not
ready to manage and protect the archives should they be
transferred to Sarajevo. However, RDS and officials at the
State Court argued strongly to have the original documents in
Sarajevo. We will have to manage Bosnian expectations while
considering a location for the archives that will provide
appropriate and necessary access to different groups of
people while also contributing to a permanent historical
record. End Comment.


12. (U) This cable has been cleared by S/WCI Matt Lavine,
Emb. The Hague Denise Manning, and EUR/SCE Anna Stinchcomb.
ENGLISH