UNSC CONSULTATION ON ICTR/ICTY -- JUNE 4

UNCLAS STATE 057281


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNSC XA ZF ZL RW
SUBJECT: UNSC CONSULTATION ON ICTR/ICTY -- JUNE 4



1. (U) The Department requests that USUN draw on the
following points for use during the Security Council,s June
4 consultations on the Completion Strategies for the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and
Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR).

Begin Points:


2. (U) The United States thanks the Prosecutors and
Presidents for their assessments, and we would like to
commend the Tribunals, judges and staff for their dedication
to justice. We note the value of the Tribunals, work and
recognize the importance of a smooth, efficient drawdown. We
welcome the new ICTY registrar, John Hocking, and we note our
appreciation for the efforts of ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Jallow
and ICTY Prosecutor Serge Brammertz. We would also like to
take this opportunity to recognize the many years of
dedicated service by former ICTY Registrar Hans Holthuis, as
well as the work of his colleague at the ICTR, Adama Dieng.


3. (U) The United States highlights the importance of the
Tribunals, work; the legacy of the Tribunals will only be
strengthened by the creation of a durable and appropriate
residual mechanism and we applaud the work the Tribunals have
done to advance that goal thus far. We urge both Tribunals
to continue to strive to complete their work at the earliest
possible date. We note in this regard that the 2008 goal for
completion of trials has not been met, but we recognize that
efforts are being made to increase efficiency and to wrap up
work through the use of ad litem judges, extensions, and
redeployment of trial judges to the appeals chamber. We
support these initiatives and believe that the Tribunals,
requests to extend the terms of judges should be honored by
the Security Council at a minimum through the upcoming
biennium.


4. (U) Individuals indicted by the Tribunals for committing
some of history,s worst crimes should not be allowed to
escape justice. The United States stresses the importance of
maintaining a vigilant, continued search for the 15
individuals indicted by the ICTY and ICTR who remain at
large. We call on all States to fulfill their legal
obligations to cooperate fully with the Tribunals.


5. (U) The United States wishes to highlight reports that
ICTR fugitive Felicien Kabuga is in Kenya. Kabuga must face
justice. We note with particular concern the ICTR
Prosecutor,s assessment that the Government of Kenya has not
complied with requests set out in March 2009, including
requests for certain government records relating to Kabuga,s
assets and details of the government,s claim that Kabuga
has left Kenya. The United States calls on Kenya to act
immediately on the Tribunal,s recommendations and take
additional steps to deny Kabuga access to his networks of
support.


6. (U) The United States understands Rwanda,s desire to
receive transfer cases from the ICTR, and commends the
Prosecutor,s support for that effort, as well as Rwanda's
and others, work to build capacity in the Rwandan legal
system to make transfers possible. The United States calls
on member States to assist and support Rwanda in its efforts
to increase capacity in the Rwandan judicial system in the
hopes that it will soon be able to receive transfers. The
ability of the ICTR to transfer cases to Rwanda and other
states as appropriate is an important step towards meeting
the Tribunal,s completion strategy. The United States notes
that the ICTR transferred information on some of its Rwandan
Patriotic Front investigations to Rwanda,s domestic courts
in June 2008, and that four RPF officers faced trial. We ask
the ICTR to share their expectations as to any possible
further cases that deal with the RPF.


7. (U) Concerning ICTY cooperation, the United States once
again calls on all States to cooperate fully with the ICTY.
We commend the Government of Serbia for its efforts to
apprehend and transfer persons indicted by the ICTY, and
particularly applaud the efforts that led to the capture of
Radovan Karadzic last July. We call on Serbia to do
everything in its power to locate, arrest and transfer the
two remaining fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. The
arrest of these last two fugitives is crucial for the
Security Council as it seeks to ensure a successful
completion of the Tribunal,s mandate.

We also recognize Croatia,s efforts to fulfill its
obligations to cooperate with the ICTY. The Government of
Croatia has facilitated the arrests of all Croatian suspects
and has established a solid record of cooperation with the
ICTY. We urge continued Croatian cooperation and are hopeful
that there can be a satisfactory and rapid resolution of the
issue of the documents sought by the ICTY prosecutor in the
Gotovina case. We encourage Croatia to work with ICTY
officials to accomplish this.

We urge that the countries of the region continue to
facilitate and improve cooperation among themselves.
Specifically, they must improve information sharing, allow
the transfer of war crimes proceedings between states as
appropriate, and break down barriers that obstruct
extradition of those accused of perpetrating war crimes.
Regional cooperation is a critical element to bringing those
that have committed crimes to justice.


8. (U) The United States notes the importance of the UN
Working Group on Criminal Tribunals, and we commend the work
of the Austrian chair. We also would like to thank the UN
Office of the Legal Counselor for its help in evaluating
options for a residual mechanism. The United States remains
committed to an efficient, cost-effective residual mechanism
that ensures that war criminals cannot escape justice.


9. (U) We again thank the Presidents, Prosecutors,
Registrars, and their staffs for their work to fight impunity
and to create a record for the world of the crimes that
occurred.


End points.


CLINTON