NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Hina) - The best evidence of Croatia's openness and commitment to cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia( ICTY) is the recent testimony of Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic
before the ICTY in the trial against Slobodan Milosevic, Croatian Ambassador to the United Nations, Ivan Simonovic, said on Monday.
NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Hina) - The best evidence of Croatia's openness
and commitment to cooperation with the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia( ICTY) is the recent testimony
of Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic before the ICTY in the trial
against Slobodan Milosevic, Croatian Ambassador to the United
Nations, Ivan Simonovic, said on Monday. #L#
Taking part in a discussion on ICTY President Claude Jorda's annual
report on the tribunal's work in the UN General Assembly, the
Croatian diplomat said that regarding the ICTY's indictment
against General Janko Bobetko, Zagreb would explore all the legal
means "available under the ICTY's Statute ad the Rules of the
Procedure and Evidence", and respect the tribunal.
Certain factually and legally unfounded qualifications in that
indictment risk some undesirable implications for the historical
record of the events that took place during the liberation war in
Croatia, Simonovic added.
In this context, he recalled that Judge Jorda wrote in his report
that the reliable record, through court files, of the past events
was equally important as the punishment of all perpetrators.
Simonovic suggested that one should avoid any attempt "to create an
artificial balance between all parties to the conflict."
He pointed to the danger that the principle of the command
responsibility for crimes be turned into objective
responsibility.
The command responsibility should be applied to the highest level
actively involved in planning and commanding genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes, the Croatian ambassador said.
He added that Croatia had handed over more than 10,000 documents,
opened its archives and ensured access to all witnesses, and "the
Government of Croatia has made it very clear that it will comply
with the ruling of the Appeals Chamber," in the case of Bobetko,
Simonovic said.
He supported intentions that investigations into war crimes in the
area of the former Yugoslavia be completed by 2004 and that Trial
and Appeals Chambers finish their cases by 2008 and 2010. National
courts should take over a part of the burden as to make this
possible, and Croatian courts are doing this already, he said.
He appealed for compensation to be given to the wrongfully detained
or wrongfully prosecuted and convicted persons, an also suggested
that it might be allowed for sentences to be served in Croatia and
other countries in the region.
(hina) ms