GOLDSTONE ON DETENTION OF TWO SERB ARMY OFFICERS

THE HAGUE, Feb 14 (Hina) - "General Djukic and Colonel Aleksa Krsmanovic have, under the international law, been transferred to the International Tribunal, on suspicion of having committed serious violations of international humanitarian law during the conflict in former Yugoslavia," a statement by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Richard Goldstone, said Wednesday. Goldstone said he wished to "reaffirm his position regarding the exact status of the two persons brought to the UN detention unit on Monday 12 February". "The transfer of the two men to The Hague and their detention there was ordered by a judge of the International Tribunal after the two men had been formally summoned by the Prosecutor for questioning under the Tribunal's rules. The Prosecutor also secured the assistance of Bosnia-Herzegovina and IFOR in arranging their transfer to the Tribunal's own detention facility, where appropriate conditions are available for such questioning to take place," the statement said. "Because of their positions as senior military officers, the men may be able, as witnesses, to provide investigators with important information relevant to other inquiries being conducted by the Prosecutor's office. However, speculations as to how, if at all, these persons may be able to assist the Prosecutor's investigations is premature," the statement said. "The rules of the Tribunal do not provide any specific limits to the length of time persons may be held in custody in these circumstances, but the Prosecutor regards such detention as temporary and anticipates that it will last, at the most, only for a number of weeks", the statement said. Goldstone said that "the investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Bosnian Moslem forces is reaching finality'. The Prosecutor anticipated that indictments arising from this investigation would be submitted to a judge for confirmation in the coming weeks, the statement said. (hina) lm jn l 141745 MET feb 96