Security Council meeting 4150

The President

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of June, I should like to take this opportunity to pay a warm tribute, on behalf of the Council, to Ambassador Mr. Wang Yingfan, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations. He represents one of the most outstanding civilizations of the world, and he has displayed talents that have impressed all the members of the Council. I am sure that I speak on everyone's behalf in expressing our appreciation to him for the quality, effectiveness, authority and readiness he displayed throughout the month of May, a particularly difficult month.

The President

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Rwanda, in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council's agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure.

There being no objection, it is so decided.

The President

In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council's prior consultations, and in the absence of objection, I shall take it that the Security Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rule of procedure to Ms. Carla Del Ponte, Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 and of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in the Territory of Neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994.

There being no objection, it is so decided.

I welcome Ms. Del Ponte and invite her to take a seat at the Council table.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations.

At this meeting, the Security Council will hear a briefing by the Prosecutor of the International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.

I call on Ms. Del Ponte, to whom I once again extend a warm welcome. The Council has extended Ms. Del Ponte an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure, in order to brief the Council.

Ms. Del Ponte (Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia)

I would like to say a few words regarding the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and then, as I have had an opportunity to spend nine weeks in Arusha on three occasions, I will speak to members about the situation of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Ms. Del Ponte (Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia)

I would now like to say a few words regarding the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Since I addressed the Council in November 1999, there have been a number of developments which may be of interest to Council members.

First, I would like to say something about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). I know this is not a matter that concerns the Security Council. Nevertheless, I am sure that Council members are aware that in recent months various complaints and a considerable body of information have been submitted to my Office concerning allegations that NATO, or more accurately, NATO personnel and leaders, may have committed crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal during the NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia last year.

Those allegations and supporting material have been submitted to my office from a number of sources, including lawyers acting on behalf of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and a Russian parliamentary commission. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia submitted a substantial amount of material concerning particular incidents. In addition, a number of reports and commentaries on the bombing campaign have been published by human rights organizations and others.

Since the International Tribunal has jurisdiction over all potential war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, I considered that it was my obligation and responsibility as an independent prosecutor to assess the complaints and allegations. In 1999, my predecessor, Justice Arbour, established a working group within her office, comprising military lawyers, military analysts and other experts, to examine and assess all complaints and allegations and accompanying material. In addition, the team has assessed all new allegations and materials subsequent to their arrival in my office. Analysis of the material has, quite properly, taken some time, and has involved an examination of all facts and a detailed legal analysis of all aspects involving the Tribunal's jurisdiction.

I am now able to announce my conclusion, following a full consideration of my team's assessment of all complaints and allegations, that there is no basis for opening an investigation into any of those allegations or into other incidents related to the NATO bombing. Although some mistakes were made by NATO, I am very satisfied that there was no deliberate targeting of civilians or of unlawful military targets by NATO during the bombing campaign. I intend to release in the near future the details of my assessment and of the criteria applied. However, this is not the forum for going into those details. Nevertheless, I felt that it was important that I inform the Council of my conclusions today, since the NATO campaign is an important issue that has been causing considerable speculation and comment.

An important consequence of the NATO campaign should also be mentioned, namely the impact that it, together with the indictment of President Milosevic and other high-level Serbian officials, has had on the willingness of the authorities in Belgrade to cooperate with the Tribunal. Since these events, there has been literally no cooperation with my office. This severely hampers my ability to conclude my investigations involving Serbian victims, particularly where such victims are residing in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. My investigators are denied visas to enter the country to continue with our investigations. I too have applied for a visa to travel to Belgrade, but this has also been denied.

When allegations are made against the Tribunal that it is anti-Serb and that there is an imbalance in the indictments issued, the fact that I am unable to gain access to the victims and to the evidence makes such allegations rather hollow.

Coming now to the issue of cooperation by the Republic of Croatia with the Tribunal, I am pleased to say that the new Croatian Government is showing and demonstrating a willingness to cooperate fully with the Tribunal. This is certainly very encouraging and is leading to the point where full cooperation is very close. For example, over the past several months we have witnessed the surrender of Mladen Naletilic, also known as Tuta, to The Hague. Further, the Government recognizes the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and my right to investigate incidents which occurred within Croatia, such as Operation Storm in 1995. Also, the Government recently allowed a forensic investigation by my investigators to proceed, and they assisted the process. Finally, a formal agreement relating to the status of my office in Zagreb has been finalized.

This leaves one remaining area where the Republic of Croatia has been less than forthcoming in recent years in its cooperation with the Tribunal: namely my access to sensitive witnesses in Croatia, and access to documents held by, or under the control of, the Government. In this area, there is still some important ground to be covered, but I am pleased to report that progress is being made. I would hope to be in a position in the near future to report that the Republic of Croatia is in full compliance with its obligations to cooperate with the Tribunal. But we are not there yet.

The last matter about Yugoslavia that I would like to raise concerns an issue which is increasingly becoming a problem for the Tribunal, namely the length of our proceedings, both the length of the trials themselves and the overall period of detention facing most accused who are taken into the Tribunal's custody. Our trials are by their nature difficult and complex undertakings. The crimes are broad and the rights of the accused to a fair trial are jealously protected. The need to guarantee fairness often conflicts with the need to ensure speedy justice. We now have four cases at the trial stage in The Hague, and nine waiting to begin. It is true that the prosecution and the defence become engaged at an early stage in attempts to focus the areas of dispute between them, but we must not lose sight of the fact that our statute guarantees all accused the right to be tried without undue delay.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the existing trial chambers are finding it difficult to cope with the number of trials awaiting determination. Traditionally, in many national jurisdictions, there are two remedies which are relied upon to address this kind of situation: first, the release of accused on bail pending trial; and secondly, the appointment of more judges to cope with the judicial workload. In the case of the Tribunal, the question of releasing accused on bail, or provisional release as it is termed in the Tribunal, is not an available option in most instances, particularly in situations where the accused has been detained and surrendered by the Stabilization Force (SFOR). In my assessment, it is not satisfactory to release indicted accused into a community where there is no ability on the part of the Tribunal to enforce its own orders without the cooperation of all States of the former Yugoslavia. For example, it would be very easy for an indicted accused in the Republika Srpska to enter Serbia, where there is currently no reasonable prospect of his being arrested.

The President of the Tribunal, Judge Claude Jorda, is acutely aware of the situation and has recently written to the General Assembly and to the Security Council setting out his vision of the Tribunal's future. I understand that that document is still being translated and may not yet have reached members, but in it Mr. Jorda projects the likely workload of the trial chambers and gives the best available estimates of how long it will take the Tribunal to process the cases at our current level of resources. The results of the President's analysis give cause for concern, and he proposes a twofold solution: the creation of a pool of ad litem judges upon which he could call as needed; and the delegation of much of the detailed pre-trial work to jurists acting on behalf of the trial chambers, thus releasing the judges to concentrate on the proceedings themselves. Those radical proposals have my support in principle. We must find a way to have fair trials within a reasonable time for all accused. This is, of course, a solution which rests largely in the hands of the General Assembly, but I felt it necessary to inform the Council of the problem in the hope that it will continue to lend its support to the Tribunal as it faces new challenges.

Ms. Del Ponte (Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia)

I wish now to speak of the situation relating to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. I believe members are aware of the 31 March 2000 decision of the Appeals Chamber in the Barayagwiza case, which reversed an earlier decision by the same Chamber. The new decision, by which the accused, Mr. Barayagwiza, will remain in detention and can be tried by the Arusha court, has naturally changed our cooperation relationship with the Government of Rwanda.

We were there three times, for three-week periods. We were, of course, working on investigations and conducting trials, but the visits also provided a good opportunity to meet with members of the Government, including President Kagame, the Minister of Justice, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Prosecutor-General.

I can assure the Council that cooperation with the Government of Rwanda is now excellent. Might I also say that the Rwandan Government, as a sign of friendship, gave me a permanent entry visa to Rwanda this time. Our Kigali Office has been focused on the investigations. For the trials that were to begin this month, we moved the trial teams to Arusha to follow closely all of the hearings, while restricting the field investigators to Kigali.

Regarding the work programme of the second half of this year, we now have 42 detainees in Arusha. Our programme envisages the arrest of 13 fugitives still at large. Some are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It would be a good idea for the United Nations mission to have a mandate similar to the one given to the Stabilization Force to help us arrest these indictees.

Cooperation with African and European States is excellent. We have a tracking team that is conducting all the necessary investigations to locate fugitives; this is naturally being done in cooperation with the judicial authorities of the various countries. To date eight indictees have been sentenced. Of these eight, three pleaded guilty, including George Ruggiu, a Belgian journalist who was sentenced yesterday to 12 years in prison. Currently, there is only one trial under way, against Bagilishema, which means that there are four trials that have not yet been initiated. The reason why these trials have not yet been initiated is that the defence interjected 12 interlocutory appeals against the joinder of proceedings. I will explain: we asked to try the indictees in a single trial where they would have to answer for the same crimes and the same acts. This means that we will have a trial called the Government case, with eight former Ministers now detained in Arusha. There is the trial called the military case, which involves four high-ranking military officers. There is the media case, in which three journalists, a publisher and a radio station owner are involved. Two trials involve the Butare case, with six indictees, and the Cyangugu case, with four indictees. This means that there are 35 detainees waiting to be tried. We hope -- and I am certain -- that these trials will start this year, because the Appeals Chamber will issue its decisions, and this will make it possible to start the trials.

One of the problems we discovered during our recent mission is that in Rwanda there are still many common graves that have not yet been opened. I discussed this problem with President Kagame, and we agreed that, in cooperation with the Rwandan authorities, we will be opening all of these common graves, because I believe that to have 30 or 50 bodies, in latrines, as I found during my last visit, is totally unacceptable. It is not acceptable either from the point of view of criminal proceedings -- because one must count those who were murdered -- nor, furthermore, from the point of view -- and here President Kagame agreed with me -- of giving the victims the kind of burial a human being deserves. This means that my intention now is to use the forensic teams that we now have in Kosovo to open up these common graves at the end of October, when it will no longer be possible to work in Kosovo because of the climatic conditions, and to send some of the forensic teams to Rwanda to help remove the bodies from the common graves.

I met with genocide survivor associations, and with the survivors themselves; naturally, the problem is still very serious from the point of view of the situation of these survivors. I will give just one example to show the social element also involved. A 27-year-old woman was raped five times. Of course, she was injured and still bears the marks of several wounds; she was saved because she was underneath the corpses, and the Red Cross discovered her still alive. She was saved. She had a child as result of being raped, but naturally she was rejected by her family, and now she is living alone in destitute conditions. Such were the meetings we had with some of the survivors. The situation is very, very serious in this sense.

The situation is also very serious from the point of view of the Rwandan detainees. I was able to visit two prisons with the Justice Minister of Rwanda. These prisons, with space for 2,000 detainees, are holding 8,000 people. This means that the detainees cannot even stretch out to sleep. Naturally, the Justice Minister is very concerned about this problem. They are now trying to introduce a form of justice called gachacha, which means sending the prisoners back to their villages for trial in the ancestral tradition. I think that this is actually the ideal solution, because it is objectively impossible to try all the detainees.

Turning now to our future strategy, our Office has identified 90 suspects who are being investigated, all responsible for genocide and other violations of international humanitarian law. One priority is cases of rape. What happened in Rwanda is unbelievable. We think that we can have indictments against those 90 accused people by the end of next year. We have also conducted financial investigations for Rwanda and for the former Yugoslavia. We do not have much staff to carry out these financial investigations. For Rwanda there are two people and for the former Yugoslavia just three. I will need bigger teams to do this, and I hope that in the next budget I will be getting new posts. This is a very important aspect of our activities. If we cut off the funding -- that is, the bank accounts -- of the indictees, not only will we make their escape more difficult, but the money, according to the Chamber judges' decision, will also be used to provide compensation to the victims.

This is extremely important for Rwanda. It would be regrettable were we unable to obtain such a decision from the judges. There is a problem, however. There is a loophole in our law. Our procedural rules do not provide access for confiscating sequestered funds. That is why we would request that a change be made in the rules.

I will not take up any more of the Council's time. I am available to answer any questions members may wish to pose.

Mr. Hasmy (Malaysia)

Let me begin by thanking you, Sir, for committing this first meeting of the Council under your presidency to hearing a briefing by Ms. Carla Del Ponte, Prosecutor of the two International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and for Rwanda (ICTR).

We warmly welcome the presence of Ms. Del Ponte in the Council for the second time since her appointment as Prosecutor. We thank her for the concise yet comprehensive briefing she has just given the Council on the two Tribunals, particularly on the ICTR, as she had promised the Council in her briefing last November.

We view the establishment of these two ad hoc Tribunals as important developments in the application of international law with respect to the prosecution of individuals accused of committing war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. When the Council established the two Tribunals, it embarked upon uncharted waters. In creating and supporting ICTY and ICTR, the United Nations has taken measures which are both noble and far-sighted. Although events in Kosovo and elsewhere have shown the continuing gap between aspirations and realities, history will record that the international community, through these ad hoc Tribunals, has sought to defend humanitarian values and contributed to the restoration and maintenance of peace in parts of the world that have been beset by unspeakable violence.

Malaysia is pleased to note that the two Tribunals have evolved into fully operational international criminal courts, providing fair trials to the accused while affording protection to the victims and witnesses. We commend the manner in which the Tribunals' victims and witnesses unit has handled the important issue of providing protective measures for witnesses appearing before the Tribunals, as well as counselling and support.

The cooperation of States is vitally important to the successful conduct of the work of the Tribunals. This is particularly true with respect to the execution of arrest warrants, provisional detention and transfer of suspects and accused persons to the seats of the Tribunals, given the fact that the Tribunals do not have a police force or jurisdiction independently to effect the apprehension of suspects. Clearly, the prompt and effective execution of arrest warrants issued by the Tribunals has been and will continue to be critical to the Tribunals' ability to function effectively.

We note that, in the case of the ICTR, States have been supportive of the Tribunal. This support has been clearly demonstrated by the arrests of Augustin Ndindiliyimana, former Chief of Staff of the Gendarmerie, in Belgium on 29 January 2000; of Lieutenant-Colonel Muvunyi in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2000; of two former high-ranking military officers of the Rwandan armed forces, Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye in France and Innocent Sagahutu in Denmark on 15 February 2000; and of Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, former Minister for Culture and Higher Education in the interim Government of Rwanda in 1994, again in France on 7 March 2000; and by the transfer of Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana by the United States to the United Nations detention facilities in Arusha on 24 March 2000.

Regrettably, this has not been quite the case in respect of the ICTY. In particular, we express our dismay at the continued non-cooperative attitude of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as just stated by Ms. Del Ponte. We reiterate our serious concern that publicly indicted persons remain at large. My delegation calls upon those in a position to do so to exert more serious and determined efforts to apprehend and bring to justice these war criminals as soon as possible. Failure to do so would be sending the wrong message to those responsible for such heinous crimes. It would also, unfortunately, convey a lack of resolve or political will on the part of the international community to deal with these crimes. The continued presence of indicted persons in certain States and entities, enjoying freedom with virtual impunity, not only sends the wrong message, but also contributes to sustaining a climate of fear and insecurity that inhibits the return of refugees, particularly in minority areas. The arrest and prosecution of indicted war criminals are an issue not only of justice, but one which will contribute substantively to the process of healing and reconciliation and to the attainment and consolidation of peace.

Malaysia continues to believe that the work of the Tribunals is a vitally important contribution not only to meting out justice, but also to the healing process in both regions, which would contribute in no small measure to strengthening the process of restoring peace, security and stability in the respective regions.

My delegation would like to ask the Prosecutor, at this stage of our observations, about the Tribunals' outreach programmes. We believe that these outreach programmes are important in increasing awareness of the role of the Tribunals in protecting and enhancing humanitarian values and should therefore continue.

The Tribunals deserve unqualified support from this Council in all aspects of their work. The Prosecutor of the Tribunals has just made a clear, strong and direct appeal to the Council for this support. This Council must respond appropriately to Ms. Del Ponte's appeal. The issue of indicted war criminals still at large and the lack of cooperation extended to the Tribunals in this regard must be seriously addressed by this Council and the rest of the international community.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock (United Kingdom)

I warmly congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency and share your tribute to your able predecessor.

It is very good to see Ms. Del Ponte back in the Council. We would like to pay tribute to the vigorous and professional way in which she is going about her very complex and important business. The United Kingdom is strongly committed to these two Tribunals. We have always supported and will continue to support fully the work of the Prosecutor in bringing to justice those responsible for the horrors in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

We are pleased by the progress that has been made in recent months. We see many positive developments, such as the arrests in Europe of important military and political leaders who allegedly played key roles in the atrocities in Bosnia and Rwanda. There have been several important judgments in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The new Croatian Government has made significant moves towards meeting its obligations to ICTY, and we are glad to see much improved relations between the ICTR and Rwanda, helped by Ms. Del Ponte's own appearance on a couple of occasions at the Tribunal in Arusha and her eventually managing to get into Rwanda with that visa. We thank her for that continued effort. It is right that the Rwanda Tribunal continues to receive high-level attention.

Nevertheless, there are too many indictees who remain at large, including senior ones. We want to see all States fulfilling their obligation under Security Council resolutions to arrest indictees when they are in their jurisdiction and we condemn Belgrade's continuing blatant refusal to implement mandatory Council resolutions which call for cooperation with the Yugoslav Tribunal. In Rwanda, it is all too clear from Ms. Del Ponte's briefing this morning that the country continues to face a very distressing situation.

As more arrests take place -- and we welcome the signs from Ms. Del Ponte that more indictees are going to be pursued -- it is important that both Tribunals be in a position to try the indictees expeditiously. We are concerned by the Prosecutor's report of continuing problems in reducing delays, and we understand why she is calling for more resources. We welcome the recent United Nations Expert Group's report, and efforts made by both Tribunals to implement their recommendations. We look forward to seeing further improvements in the Tribunals' efficiency. We also welcome the initiative by the ICTY judges in seeking to identify additional measures which can be taken to speed up the pre-trial and trial procedures. We look forward to seeing President Jorda's report on these aspects and to hearing the Secretary-General's views on the judges' ideas.

The President

I thank the representative of the United Kingdom for his kind words addressed to me.

Mr. Listre (Argentina)

First of all, Mr. President, allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. Allow me also to endorse the words you addressed to the President for the month of May, Ambassador Wang Yingfan.

We thank Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte for the briefing she has just given us, which demonstrates again the scope of the challenges and demands facing her Office. I wish to express my country's support for her exemplary work.

This is the second opportunity the Council has had to hear a report from Ms. Del Ponte, a little more than six months following the previous report. We believe that the regular receipt of reports is a useful resource for examining the position of the Council regarding the jurisdictional bodies that it has established. This approach must be pursued so that we can continue to benefit regularly from the experiences shared and the recommendations for finding solutions to the problems raised.

Argentina welcomed the establishment of the two tribunals. Despite the initial scepticism of some, today both institutions are operational and are showing that they can play an important role in our efforts to combat violence and impunity and in consolidating international peace and security. These institutions have proved to be an innovative tool for the international community, contributing to great advances in international law. It is obvious that the work of both Tribunals has great importance for the future work of the International Criminal Court. Each problem that the Tribunals face and each step forward or backward, undoubtedly will also be a valuable precedent for the Court. Their rules of procedure and evidence, for example, have been useful in preparing the rules of the Criminal Court, which are soon to be defined.

The Rwanda and Yugoslavia Tribunals and the Office of the Prosecutor have grown and matured and have further consolidated. They nevertheless continue to face a variety of problems that have been considered thoroughly and well in the complete report provided by the Expert Group assessing the functioning of both Tribunals, submitted last November to the General Assembly in document A/54/634. This is not the forum or the occasion to consider in detail those recommendations, but we cannot fail to note that the comments and suggestions clearly describe the various problems being faced.

Today, in the Security Council, we nonetheless must note with growing alarm that our main concern continues to be ensuring full cooperation from the Member States of the United Nations so that the decisions of these two Tribunals can be implemented. The reticence of Governments to provide support to the Tribunal is a negative signal that could undermine the efforts of the international community. This negative stance is not new, and many of the statements heard in previous debates in the Council have sounded the alarm. Although some progress has been made since then, resistance and lack of cooperation are ongoing, and this is a matter of concern to us.

My delegation regrets that once again we have to appeal to States to cooperate with the Rwanda and Yugoslavia Tribunals. We particularly regret the attitude of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On the other hand, we welcome the comments made by Ms. Del Ponte regarding the positive attitude of the new Government of Croatia and the cooperative attitude of the Government of Rwanda. This cooperation is not optional, to be carried out or not at one's own discretion. It is a legal obligation, imposed by the Security Council, and the very possibility of administering justice depends on it, since the Tribunals do not have their own coercive mechanism to enable them to make their decisions effective. Non-compliance with the obligation to cooperate is a violation of their statutes and undermines the objective for which the Tribunals were established. The Security Council must not remain silent in the face of this situation and it may well need to take decisions.

The Security Council must help the Tribunals and the Prosecutor to carry out their duties, as the main problems that they are facing continue to involve factors over which those bodies have little or no control. That is the responsibility of the Council, in particular on this occasion.

The consolidation phase is behind us. It is clear now that, before planning the creation of new tools or furthering institutional reform, we need to provide the means for them to carry out their tasks.

We are aware that the Tribunals need sufficient and appropriate human and material resources to carry out their work effectively at all stages. In this connection, we would like to ask what progress has been made regarding the vacancy rate in the Office of Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for Rwanda as compared to last year. What are the future perspectives and what are the results of the training programmes for new staff? We would also like to ask Ms. Del Ponte for a few additional comments on the effectiveness of the administrative support system, in particular as regards the Tribunal for Rwanda's coordination with the defence and the prosecution, on delays due to translation problems, on availability of chambers and on the abundance of pre-trial judicial questions.

The President

I thank the representative of Argentina for his kind words addressed to me.

Mr. Chowdhury (Bangladesh)

Let me begin by extending our warmest congratulations to you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. We are confident that you will bring new dynamism and vision to the Council in its discharge of its responsibilities.

Let me also pay tribute to Ambassador Wang Yingfan for steering the work of the Council with forbearance, determination and wisdom through an extraordinarily difficult month of May.

We join colleagues in expressing our high appreciation to Ms. Carla Del Ponte for her briefing. It was time for the Council to have such an update, the last one being in November, and to reflect in a comprehensive manner on different aspects of the responsibilities entrusted by the Council to the International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The Prosecutors' responsibility is an onerous one. The Tribunals stand against impunity. We pay tribute to the Prosecutor and to her colleagues for their tireless efforts in making a historic contribution to humanity.

We are pleased to note that the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have made progress, often under very difficult circumstances. Over the past few years, as the lists of detainees in each case show, many accused, including high-ranking officials, have been arrested, prosecuted and punished. The opening of new trials is evidence of this progress and dynamism.

Today we will limit our remarks to three issues.

The first is the question of the trial of the indictees. The international community must address the issue of apprehending high-ranking politicians and military officers indicted by the Tribunals. Several accused senior military and political figures remain at large. It is an outrage that some indictees have yet to be arrested, given that five years have elapsed since their indictment.

The second issue is the cooperation of the countries and regional arrangements concerned. The success of the Tribunals in both cases depends largely on the collaboration of the States concerned and of those in their respective regions. In the case of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the cooperation extended to it by regional countries in Africa is very commendable. Such cooperation helped our efforts in the universal struggle against impunity, against genocide, and against crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In the case of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, we are happy to note the increased collaboration with the Tribunal. We appreciate the cooperation extended to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Stabilization Force (SFOR) and the Kosovo Force (KFOR) in arresting the accused and gathering evidence. In this regard, the cooperation extended to the Tribunal by the Governments of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, as we heard from the Prosecutor again this morning, deserves our special appreciation. We emphasize again the need for facilitation of access to the Prosecutor.

Thirdly, there is the question of resources. The significant growth of the number of detainees, trial and appeals speak to the pressing need to increase the resources for the two Tribunals. Judge Jorda pleaded the case in great detail before the recent Peace Implementation Council. In her briefing, Ms. Del Ponte this morning underlined this aspect very forcefully. No one would dispute the fact that the necessary means should be provided to the Tribunals to meet their requirements. The Voluntary Trust Fund has been of immense help in sustaining the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. We encourage all donors to continue to support the Tribunals.

We understand that a report has been sent to the Secretary-General on possible adjustments in procedure, for economy in terms of both time and budget. We request the Secretariat to attend to the matter in an expeditious manner and submit recommendations for decision.

The work of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is critically important for healing the wounds and providing for lasting peace in the Balkans. The same is true with respect to the contributions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to a lasting peace in Rwanda and the subregion.

The Prosecutor's briefing is a solemn reminder of our collective responsibility for the onerous tasks entrusted to these two Tribunals. We must ensure that as, in the case of peacekeeping missions, the means are commensurate with the mandate.

The President

I thank the representative of Bangladesh for the kind words he addressed to me.

Mr. Holbrooke (United States)

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