ZAGREB, Nov 4 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of The Hague Tribunal, Carla del Ponte, said in Zagreb on Thursday she would report Croatia to the United Nations Security Council next week due to non-cooperation in investigations of
crimes committed during the "Flash" and "Storm" military operations.
ZAGREB, Nov 4 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of The Hague Tribunal,
Carla del Ponte, said in Zagreb on Thursday she would report Croatia
to the United Nations Security Council next week due to non-
cooperation in investigations of crimes committed during the
"Flash" and "Storm" military operations.#L#
Del Ponte told reporters that as long as Croatia failed to comply in
this key issue, she would have no choice but to report its non-
cooperation at a meeting with UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Zagreb and meetings with Croatian officials were the last stop on
del Ponte's first visit to the region, which included Skopje,
Pristina, and Sarajevo.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said she was very disappointed with
Croatia's insistence on refusing full cooperation with the
Tribunal in connection with some of her investigations.
Del Ponte said Croatia must acknowledge ICTY's clear jurisdiction
over all investigations pertaining to the Croatian conflict,
including "Flash" and "Storm", through which Croatia in 1995
liberated parts of its territory occupied by the Serb aggressor
since 1991.
The chief prosecutor reiterated her investigation did not question
the lawfulness and legitimacy of the two military operations, but
that it was directed to the crimes then committed.
Asked about Croatia's dispute with the ICTY regarding the
Tribunal's jurisdiction over the two operations, del Ponte said her
position was that jurisdiction could be contended only during and
not before trial.
ICTY deputy chief prosecutor Graham Blewitt explained that nothing
in the Statute or rules of The Hague Tribunal envisaged the
possibility of resolving a dispute over jurisdiction in the pre-
hearing stage.
Blewitt said only the prosecutor could alone decide whether or not
to launch an investigation. He added that not even the trial chamber
in The Hague could alter the prosecutor's decision to conduct an
investigation.
Del Ponte told the press her priority remained the completion of
investigations of crimes committed in Croatia in 1991 and 1992.
She said she was sure the investigations of the 1991 crimes would be
completed and result in more indictments besides the existing four
against persons accused of crimes committed in Vukovar in 1991.
As regards a recommendation by the ICTY Secretariat that at present
Croatian war crimes suspect Mladen Naletilic Tuta could not be
transferred to The Hague due to poor health, del Ponte said it
seemed Tuta would be able to travel to The Hague in three weeks.
She wished him the best.
Asked if she would pursue with the practice of silent indictments,
the chief prosecutor said the method would be applied as long as it
brought results. The countries to whose citizens these indictments
refer are informed beforehand about the indictments, in order to
state whether they consider it easier in view of arrests to work
with silent indictments.
(hina) ha