STATEMENT
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)
United Nations
Nations Unies

PROSECUTOR
The Hague, 18 June 2010

Address of Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia to the Security Council on 3 December 2009

International
Criminal Tribunal
for the former
Yugoslavia
Tribunal Pénal
International pour
l’ex-Yougoslavie

Mr. President, Excellencies,
It is a privilege to once again address you on the progress we are making in the
Office of the Prosecutor to complete the Tribunal’s mandate. This is now our 13th report,
and for my Office it marks a significant step forward in achieving the completion strategy,
especially in finishing trials, securing the cooperation of States and accelerating the
downsizing process.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
For the first time, since the implementation of the Completion Strategy, I can report
that we have no more trials at the pre-trial stage. The cases of all the accused we have
in custody are now in the active trial phase: nine cases involving 18 accused are on trial.
On 10 June 2010, the Trial Chamber delivered what we consider to be a milestone
judgement in the Popović et al. case for crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims during
and after the fall of the Srebrenica and Žepa enclaves in July 1995. The Trial Chamber
convicted seven former high-ranking Bosnian Serb military and police officials of genocide,
war crimes and crimes against humanity. Among those convicted, Vujadin Popović and
Ljubiša Beara were found guilty of genocide, extermination and persecution as crimes
against humanity and murder as a violation of the laws and customs of war. Both were
sentenced to life imprisonment. Drago Nikolić was convicted for aiding and abetting
these crimes and was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment.
It is an important judgement, first of all, for the victims of these crimes, for the
other cases of the Tribunal, and, I hope, for the prosecution of lower and mid-level
accused in the former Yugoslavia. Moreover, the Chamber’s findings are further
confirmation that those found guilty in the Popović case worked under the orders of other
indictees, such as Ratko Mladić, who remains at large. The Popović judgement confirming
that genocide occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina reminds us once again of the urgent
need to bring Ratko Mladić to justice.
Despite the various achievements made in moving trials forward, it is regrettable to
see slippage in the trial programme. Trials of this nature are complex and beset by a
broad range of legal and practical difficulties, many of which are beyond our control.
They include the unpredictable length of defence cases, especially where accused are self
represented, the interruptions due to contempt proceedings, as well as the late
emergence of important, newly-discovered evidence. We nevertheless remain committed
to the expeditious and efficient completion of our work, while respecting the fairness of
proceedings.
The complexities, of course do not end at the conclusion of the trials. Our
expanded Appeals section also continued to work at full capacity and I expect its workload
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to continue to increase. An appeals judgement was rendered in the case of Boškoski and
Tarčulovski. The Prosecution has completed appeals filings in several cases and will
continue to be dealing with judgements in other cases.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
To fulfil our mandate and meet completion strategy goals, my Office continues to
rely on the cooperation of States and international organisations.
Over the past six months, Serbia has continued to respond adequately to our
requests for assistance, by providing access to documents, archives and witnesses. At this
moment, there are no outstanding requests.
The Serbian authorities have provided notebooks containing the handwritten wartime notes of Ratko Mladić, and associated tapes. These were seized during a search
operation conducted by the Action Team in charge of tracking fugitives in February 2010.
The valuable, voluminous material recovered is currently being analysed, and we have
sought and will continue to seek its introduction as evidence in several trials.
The arrest of the fugitives Mladić and Hadžić remains the highest priority for my
Office. Since my last report, operational services in Serbia continued their efforts to
search for the fugitives. However, these efforts have thus far produced few tangible
results. We therefore strongly believe that Serbia’s current operational strategies need to
be reviewed. We have recently asked Serbian authorities to step up search efforts by
broadening their investigations, intensifying search operations and increasing their
operational capacity. Decisive and intensified action by the operational services and
political authorities is critical for obtaining the arrest of the two fugitives.
I have expressed these concerns at the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council on
14 June. I reiterated to the Ministers that the support of the European Union in securing
cooperation of States has not only been extremely effective in the past, but will remain
essential in the future.
During this reporting period Croatia has, generally, been responsive to our requests
for assistance. However, the issue of the missing important documents related to
Operation Storm in 1995 remains outstanding. In October 2009 Croatia established an
inter-agency Task Force to take over their administrative investigation. While there has
been a general improvement in the quality of the interviews conducted, no full account of
the whereabouts of the important missing documents has been provided. In addition, key
investigative avenues remain unexplored.
During the past weeks, I have been assured by the authorities that the
administrative investigation will pursue additional leads and expand its work as suggested
by my Office one year ago. I hope that these activities will result in effective action and
concrete results. While the matter remains before the Trial Chamber, I await the results
of these efforts by Croatia to see whether Croatia intensifies its administrative
investigation and fully accounts for the missing documents before the end of trial.
The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to respond adequately to our
requests for assistance. I continue to encourage the authorities to take all necessary
measures against the networks supporting fugitives. We welcome the assistance provided
by the Office of the High Representative and other international organisations in this
regard.
With regard to judicial proceedings, my Office supports national prosecutions and
the important work of the Special Department of War Crimes in the Office of the State

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Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We strongly encourage the authorities of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, and the international community, to carry on providing the necessary
support for the prosecution of war crimes cases.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
My Office continues to provide assistance to national prosecutors in order to ensure
the transition to domestic prosecution of war crimes cases. Building the capacity of local
courts to try war crimes is not only critical to the success of the Tribunal’s completion
strategy and legacy, but is also essential for lasting justice.
As forecast in my last report, we have now completed the transfer of cases and
investigation files to courts and prosecution offices in the region. There is still a regular
exchange of information and knowledge in relation to the material that was transferred.
We also continue to support ongoing cooperation and capacity building projects. In
this regard, I would specifically like to record my gratitude to the European Union for
extending the funding for the project of liaison prosecutors and young professionals from
the region who work in my Office. The project, which was established one year ago, has
been applauded by the European Union and the regional prosecution offices as being very
valuable and effective in facilitating the exchange of information and know-how between
the international forum and national prosecution services.
I also encourage all authorities in the region to strengthen regional cooperation in
order to address war crimes cases. I note recent improvement in certain areas, and the
conclusion of important judicial cooperation agreements. However, further efforts are
necessary if there is to be a coordinated approach to war crimes prosecutions across the
region.
As the High Representative Mr. Valentin Inzko said in this Council a few weeks ago,
recent conciliatory gestures from political leaders in the region have led to the creation of
space for a new and constructive dialogue. It is only in such environment, which is void of
provocation, that the prosecutors and courts can do their work and further build upon the
work of the Tribunal.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
As announced last year, the Office of the Prosecutor has begun downsizing. It is the
first of the Tribunal’s organs to do so. In line with the step-by-step progress in trials and
appeals, we have abolished 22 posts thus far. Despite the slippage in the trial schedule,
and the fact that additional expenditure may be required, we are nevertheless continuing
to follow a strict policy of decreasing staff levels as trials end.
The actual process of downsizing is proving to be difficult and complex. It affects
all our dedicated staff, who are working under extremely high pressure. Due to
uncertainty about their future, experienced and highly skilled staff may decide to leave.
While, of course, we support initiatives designed to help our staff find jobs elsewhere
when their contracts end, it is nevertherless crucial that we retain the necessary
resources to complete our work.
In the longer term, our eyes are also now on the eventual closure of the Tribunal
and what lies beyond. As our final trial work progresses in The Hague, discussions within
the Working Group on the creation of a future residual mechanism are well underway. I
welcome efforts already undertaken and important progress made in this regard by the
Austrian chairmanship, the members of the Working Group and the Secretariat.

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Mr. President, Excellencies,
In July, it will be 15 years since the genocide which took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Since then, an important number of high level accused have been tried
in The Hague, and progress has been made in domestic war crimes prosecutions. However,
the human tragedy of the war is still a vivid memory, as victims, the peoples of the
former Yugoslavia and the international community continue to seek justice. The painful
chapter of recent history can only properly be closed when all those responsible for
serious violations of international humanitarian law have been brought to trial. Therefore,
there can be no alternative to the immediate arrest of the fugitives.
I thank you for your continued support.

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