ZAGREB, July 20 (Hina) - The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Louise Arbour, has requested the immediate transfer to The Hague of Vinko Martinovic Stela and Mladen Naletilic
Tuta, as well as the hand-over of all documents necessary for the investigation into Operation Storm, otherwise she would have to report Croatia's non-co-operation to the U.N. Security Council.
ZAGREB, July 20 (Hina) - The Chief Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Louise Arbour,
has requested the immediate transfer to The Hague of Vinko
Martinovic Stela and Mladen Naletilic Tuta, as well as the hand-
over of all documents necessary for the investigation into
Operation Storm, otherwise she would have to report Croatia's non-
co-operation to the U.N. Security Council. #L#
"I also told the Ministers that I would be prepared to withdraw from
that initiative if they urgently respond to all my outstanding
requests", Arbour told reporters on Tuesday before leaving
Zagreb.
Arbour on Monday held talks with Justice Minister Zvonimir
Separovic and Foreign Minister Mate Granic and conveyed them her
'grave concern' about the level of co-operation her office has been
receiving from the Croatian authorities.
"I put it to them that for some considerable time now Croatia in fact
has not been discharging its obligation to co-operate with the
Tribunal in a satisfactory manner, and explained to them that I
consider that I now have no option but to request the President of
the ICTY to report the situation to the Security Council".
This would be the first time for the Security Council to be formally
informed of Croatia's non-co-operation. So far, such reports have
on several occasions been submitted in case of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia.
Once the Security Council receives the report, it has a number of
options - from an oral 'reprimand' to a presidential statement on
sanctions.
According to Arbour, the documents The Hague Tribunal has been
requesting for the past several years include details of casualties
admitted to Knin Hospital during Operation Storm, documentation in
relation to the 51 dead bodies in the Medak Pocket area handed over
to the Serb side in 1993 and all police files and court reports of
proceedings held in absentia against general Perisic and 18 other
JNA officers in Zadar.
Arbour said she also asked Separovic to explain to her the
Government's position on co-operation with the Tribunal,
especially in light of the recent publication in the press of a
document suggesting that the Committee for Co-operation was in fact
actively devising a strategy to delay or defeat certain of the
Tribunal's key investigations. The article in question was
published in 'Nacional' weekly two weeks ago.
"The official position of the Government, he assured me, was one of
co-operation", the ICTY Chief Prosecutor said, adding that nothing
would change Croatia's obligations on transfer.
According to the 'Nacional' article, one of the reasons for
Croatia's statement against the FRY for genocide is to create space
for manoeuvring with the aim of avoiding the extradition of
Croatian generals against whom the Tribunal has been conducting an
investigation for crimes committed during 'Storm'.
She dismissed Croatia's argument that the Tribunal does not have
jurisdiction to investigate Operation Storm as lacking legal merit
and being identical to the one presented by the FRY over Kosovo.
She described the Government's decision to hand over Naletilic and
Martinovic only after they have served their prison sentences in
Croatia as "surprising" because it would mean that Stela would not
be transferred to The Hague until he has completed serving an eight
year sentence in Croatia.
Justice Minister Separovic yesterday said the two indicted would be
transferred to The Hague after the completion of legal proceedings
that are being conducted against them. He did not, however, explain
that the convicts first have to serve their sentences in full before
they are transferred to The Hague.
Arbour dismissed objections by the Croatian authorities regarding
the Tribunal's work.
"For Croatia to complain about the Tribunal instead of complying
with its international obligations is reminiscent of the conduct of
the FRY, an, in my view, is no more than a convenient way to evade
those obligations", the Chief Prosecutor said.
Croatia is accusing the Tribunal of uneven prosecution of crimes
committed by Croats and those crimes where Croats were the
victims.
(hina) rml