The monitoring will be carried out within the existent mandate and with the funds of OSCE missions, the OSCE and the ICTY decided at Thursday's session of 55 representatives of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, in which ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte took part.
Addressing the session, del Ponte said that within the completion strategy of the ICTY, the Office of Prosecutor had proposed the referral of mid-and lower-level perpetrators to local courts.
"Another key aspect of the completion strategy is the referral of mid-and lower-level perpetrators to local courts. My office has filed ten motions involving 18 accused for such transfers of cases in the past months, namely 7 to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 to Croatia, 1 to Serbia and Montenegro, and one case that could be sent in our view either to Croatia or to Serbia and Montenegro. These are indicted cases involving mid-or low-level accused which were ready to be tried in The Hague. In its first ruling in this regard, the Chamber decided on Tuesday, 17 May, to accept one of our motions involving one accused for referral to the State Court in Sarajevo," del Ponte said addressing the OSCE session.
The case of Vukovar Three is the one which will be referred either to Croatia or to Serbia.
She said among other things that "the domestic proceedings will need to be carefully monitored. The monitoring of those cases referred to domestic jurisdictions by the ICTY is foreseen in the ICTY Rules of Procedure and Evidence. On 28 February 2005, I sent a letter to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister Rupel, to consider the appropriate modalities for monitoring war crimes trials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Croatia and in Serbia and Montenegro. The OSCE is best-equipped to co-operate closely with the Office of the Prosecutor in the fulfillment of this important task. Thus, the OSCE would play an important role in a key aspect of the completion strategy endorsed by the UN Security Council. Furthermore, the relevant OSCE field missions are already involved in monitoring war crimes trials".
Del Ponte expressed satisfaction with today's decision. "This is an important element which will facilitate the transfer of cases," she explained.
"In addition, my office has already started to refer over 60 non-indicted cases to the local judiciaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM (Macedonia) and Serbia and Montenegro. It will now be up to the domestic prosecutors to proceed, complete investigations and issue indictments, unless they find out that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute," she said.
Commenting on the progress national judiciaries had so far made so as to take over ICTY cases, the ICTY Chief Prosecutor said that Croatia had set up four special war crimes courts. "Laws were drafted, adapted or passed to provide for the protection of witnesses. Investigators, prosecutors and judges were trained. One of the most important developments is certainly the signing of bilateral agreements on direct judicial cooperation between the prosecutors of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro, thanks to the initiative of the Croatian State Prosecutor, Mr. Bajic," she said.
Speaking of cooperation of countries in the region with the ICTY and chances for the remaining 10 fugitives to be transferred to the tribunal's detention centre so that the UN court could wrap up all trials until the end of 2008 and appeals proceedings until the end of 2010, she said that "time is pressing".
"Time is pressing. Not because the fugitives could enjoy impunity if they are not arrested before the ICTY closes its doors. No. There will always be courtrooms, prosecutors and judges in The Hague to try (Radovan) Karadzic, (Ratko) Mladic .... Time is pressing because, this summer, we will commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. How could internationals participate in this commemoration when they proved unable to bring Karadzic and Mladic to justice? This is a shame, and, myself, I have decided not to participate to any commemoration of Srebrenica if Karadzic and Mladic are still at large by then," she said.
The ICTY Chief Prosecutor spoke about the importance of the transfer the Croatian runaway general Ante Gotovina, assessing in that context that the Croatian authorities "may now be ready for coercive measures. When soft methods are not working anymore, then tough action is required".
She sent the same message to Belgrade.
According to information she had, "ten accused are still at large. Two are in Russia, Ante Gotovina is between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Radovan Karadzic is between Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the others, including Ratko Mladic, are in Serbia".
The duration of the OSCE monitoring of war crimes cases will be tied with the extension of OSCE missions in the country. In case of the cessation of the mandate, the two sides will find new solutions for the continuation of the monitoring.
A form of reports to be submitted by OSCE observers on the matter will be harmonised between the OSCE missions and the ICTY's Office of Prosecutor.