ICTY MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY

THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, May 26 (Hina) - The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) marked its tenth anniversary last weekend. The tribunal's president said on the occasion that with its work, this institution had given a crucial and lasting contribution to bringing justice to the peoples of the former Yugoslavia. #L# On the occasion of ten years of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 827 which established the tribunal on May 25, 1993, president Theodor Meron, forwarded a message to ICTY staff, recalling the results achieved so far and tasks which stand before the tribunal until the end of its mandate in 2008. Trials hitherto "have sent a powerful message that only through justice can all the peoples of the former Yugoslavia achieve reconciliation and create thriving societies.", Meron said in his message. He pointed to a wider significance of the work of the ICTY in "establishing an effective system of international criminal law" and strengthening international humanitarian law. The ICTY's "jurisprudence establishes an important foundation upon which other criminal tribunals, both international and national, in this city and around the globe, can build as they join in our common mission of bringing the long era of impunity for mass atrocities to an end." Meron stressed. Speaking of the tribunal's future tasks, the ICTY president said that hard work lay before the tribunal's staff, in which efforts must be redoubled. Saying that the tribunal was already drafting a "completion strategy" while many indictees were still at large, Meron especially mentioned former Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. "We recognise that without bringing the highest-ranking indictees to justice our essential mission will remain unfulfilled," he said. Meron concluded that the next few years would be crucial in the life of the tribunal, and expressed confidence that the ICTY would "leave an important legacy to the people of the Balkans and the world". (hina) lml sb