<nettime> Croatia non-compliant with ICTY

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

This is an interesting international law issue. Each country does 
have a right to preserve its sovereignty. But also each country has 
an obligation to abide to certain internationally recognized human 
rights policies. Therefore, while Croatia might have been right in 
commencing operations Lightning and Storm, portions of Croatian 
Army involved in the operations might still be liable for crimes 
against humanity. Croatian ministry of justice rises another aspect 
of that issue: who has the jurisdiction over prosecuting those 
crimes? Because it seems that when such crimes occur in a not 
first world country, that country is not trusted to prosecute them on 
its own. This is a question of sovereignty. It either seems that only 
the "industrialized nations" are really sovereign in this world, or that 
the individuals that possibly committed crimes against humanity in 
the past actions in which the members of the "industrialized 
nations" participated, should also be called up and prosecuted 
internationally. Croatia chose the path of not complying with ICTY 
stressing its sovereignty in that issue. However, it might have been 
smarter to offer full compliance and stress importance that *all* 
such cases, regardless of what country is involved, be investigated 
and brought up before international justice. Furthermore the bad 
record that the international court acquired by not prosecuting war 
criminals from Bosnia, was not helped by its order for the Rwandan 
Hutu war criminal (the radio propaganda master) to be released 
because he was held to long in detention in the third country. 
Maybe if the International Tribunal straighten up its procedures it 
can deserve the right to demand other judiciaries to do so.

ivo

Date sent:      	Fri, 5 Nov 1999 12:03:46 -0500
Send reply to:  	Eric Witte <ewitte@icg-dc.org>
From:           	Eric Witte <ewitte@icg-dc.org>
Organization:   	International Crisis Group
Subject:        	Croatia non-compliant with ICTY
To:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU

Carla Del Ponte will report to the UNSC that Croatia in non-
compliant in
investigations into operations Storm and Flash.

Eric Witte

----------------------------
UN Prosecutor to Report Croatia to SEC Council Again

ZAGREB, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes
tribunal threatened on Thursday to report Croatia to
the Security Council unless it starts cooperating in the investigation of
two military operations against Serbs in 1995.

"Croatia must recognise our clear authority to proceed with all
investigations of armed conflict within Croatia, including
Operations Storm and Flash," Carla Del Ponte told a news conference at the
end of her first tour of the Balkans.

"Until Croatia complies on this fundamental matter, I will have no choice
but to report Croatia's non-compliance when I meet
with the U.N. Security Council next Wednesday," she said.

Del Ponte took over from Canadian Louise Arbour last month. The
International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) first reported Croatia's non-compliance to the Security Council in
August, upon Arbour's insistence.

Zagreb then risked trade sanctions by the United Nations or the United
States but the issue never got onto the Council's agenda
and Croatia has since handed over one indicted Bosnian Croat and ruled to
allow the extradition of another.

But the sticking point remained Zagreb's contention that the tribunal had no
jurisdiction over the two lightning attacks, which it
said were legitimate actions to liberate its territory.

The Zagreb government has refused to hand over documents that could help
determine the responsibility of army and police in
alleged crimes committed against Serb civilians during and after the
operations.

Justice Minister Zvonimir Separovic insisted again on Thursday that the
issue of jurisdiction should be discussed before the
International Court of Justice or the ICTY's trial chamber.

But Del Ponte clearly indicated that she disagreed with Croatia's position,
saying she needed documents and "witnesses we can
interview" and that the tribunal's jurisdiction could be challenged only
after a trial has started.

"I am required to investigate whether crimes were committed during the
operation Storm, not whether the operation itself was a
criminal act," Del Ponte told journalists.

"I want to make clear that the legality and legitimacy of the operations are
not an issue... But even in a just war... the laws of war
must be respected. Brutal abuse of civilians is not permissible in any
military context," she said.

Croatian army and police swiftly recaptured large swathes of land in central
and southern Croatia in May and August 1995,
driving thousands of Serb civilians away.

A number of people were reported to have been killed and their property
looted or burnt.

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