tribunals

The United Nations war crimes tribunals set up in the wake of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s are despite various delays, close to completing their work, their officials told the Security Council today, stressing that they will need support of the international community to address remaining challenges.

The Security Council today extended the terms of the judges serving on the United Nations war crimes tribunals set up to deal with the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, so they can complete remaining cases by the deadline set for the courts’ work.

Cooperation from States remains critical as the United Nations tribunals set up to try those responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide and atrocities committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s enter the final phases of their work, top officials from the courts told the Security Council today.

Serbia continues to do nothing to arrest the two most notorious suspects from the 1990s Balkan wars, the outgoing Prosecutor of the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said today, declaring that her previous optimism that Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadžic might soon be in custody “has waned considerably.”

The apparent momentum earlier this year to bring two of the most notorious fugitives from the Balkan wars of the 1990s before the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has ebbed, and there is no serious attempt now to seize them, the court’s Chief Prosecutor told the Security Council today.

The United Nations war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda are striving to complete all of their trials by the Security Council-imposed target date of 2008, but their prosecutors today warned that many indicted suspects remain at large.

The United Nations Security Council today appointed a senior Gambian jurist to try cases stemming from the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and reappointed Carla del Ponte to focus on the Balkan wars of the 1990s, after last week's decision to split the prosecutorial duties for the two UN war crimes tribunals.

A separate prosecutor's post was created today for the United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda after the Security Council decided to split the prosecutorial duties of the two UN courts trying cases stemming from the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the Balkan wars of the 1990s, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan nominating a Gambian jurist to the new position.

The Security Council today amended the rules of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda to clarify the national status of judges with citizenship of two or more countries that might serve on the two courts.