The ICTY today is the leader of the global war for justice, ICTY vice president Carmel Agius said opening a conference on the tribunal's legacy in the former Yugoslavia. The event brought together representatives of the judiciary and non-governmental organisations from the region.
Agius said the ICTY changed the way of looking on accountability for war crimes and that its legacy would make it easier for the countries in the region to face the past.
Twenty years ago, when the ICTY was established, nobody could have imagined that all indictees would be brought to justice but they were, he said, adding that the Hague-based ICTY had indicted 161 people, including nearly 20 for crimes committed in Croatia.
The ICTY today is a source of legal procedures for the prosecution of war crimes at international courts and its establishment filled the gap left after the Nuremberg Tribunal in the prosecution of crimes committed on an international scale, said Agius.
Croatian Supreme Court vice president Ana Garacic said Croatia recently aligned its laws in order to use the ICTY's evidence.
Dutch Ambassador Stella Ronner Grubacic, whose country was one of the sponsors of the conference, said that when the ICTY closes its doors, war criminals will be prosecuted by the national judiciaries.
She said improvements must be made in this area, such as those stated in the European Commission's latest monitoring report on Croatia. She underlined the importance of regional cooperation and called on political leaders in the region to eliminate the hurdles to cooperation.
Conferences on the ICTY's legacy were already held in The Hague and Sarajevo. One will be held in Belgrade by the end of the month.
The ICTY was established in 1993. Proceedings are under way for 35 persons. Nearly US$ 2 billion has been spent on the tribunal's work.