Subject: PRESS RELEASE - AD HOC TRIBUNAL
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INTERNATIONAL DELEGATION OF SIGNATORIES OF THE APPEAL FOR THE IMMEDIATE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AD HOC TRIBUNAL FOR CRIMES COMMITTED IN FORMER
YUGOSLAVIA MEETS UN SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE PRESIDENTS OF THE SECURITY
COUNCIL AND OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
An international delegation uniting Members of Parliament from Croatia,
Bosnia and Montenegro led by the Honourable Emma Bonino, Deputy Speaker of
the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Secretary of the Transnational Radical
Party met UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 2 November to
deliver over 25,000 international signatures urging the immediate and
effective establishment of the International Tribunal for War Crimes
committed in the former Yugoslavia as established by Security Council
Resolution 827 on 25 May 1993. Their meeting with the Secretary-General
was preceded on 1 November by similar meetings with the President of the
Security Council, Ambassador Jose Luis Jesus, and the President of the
General Assembly, Ambassador Samuel R. Insanally.
The Secretary General welcomed the Delegation and thanked the members for
their support. He stressed that without this continuing support of
parliamentary groups, scholars and NGOs, "we will not be able to obtain the
support of international public opinion and lacking that, Member States
will not be interested in supporting UN efforts". He added that this
Tribunal was of great importance. In fact, it illustrated a new approach as
this was the first time in the history of the UN that the Security Council
decided to create an international Tribunal. The Secretary General informed
the Delegation that the
Tribunal will be officially inaugurated at a high UN level in The Hague on
17 November. He hoped the Delegation would also assist at this ceremony. In
his conclusions the Secretary General emphasized the continuing unresolved
financial issues, recalling that the Tribunal will cost 35 million dollars
per year once it is fully functioning.
In his intervention Arieh Neier, President of the Open Society Fund,
underlined that the Commision of Experts on War Crimes' mandate should be
extended in order to properly phase in the work of the Tribunal. The former
Deputy Prime Minister of croatia, Zdravko Tomac, speaking on behalf of his
colleagues from Montenegro and Bosnia, stressed that the Tribunal would not
only punish violators but would also prevent future violations of
humanitarian law.
The Security Council President stressed that the Resolution establishing
the Ad Hoc Court was adopted by consensus despite the initial opposition of
certain Member States. "The presence of this delegation at UN Headquarters
today", he said,"underlines that the consensus represented by this decision
has been complemented by an equally strong consensus on the part of public
opinion". Naturally, this Court would be only the first piece in the
mosaic for the re-establishment of international law and human rights.
Given the Delegation's specific concern regarding both the source and level
of the Tribunal's funding, Ambassador Jesus replied that in his opinion the
financial problems will be resolved once the Tribunal is inaugurated.
Finally he informed the Delegation that he hoped to participate at the
Tribunal's official inauguration.
The President of the General Assembly focussed on the issue within the
competence of the General Assembly, that is, the budget. He declared that
he intended to do all within his power to adopt the budget as soon as
possible based on the proposal submitted by the Secretary-General.
The Appeal's signatures were collected world-wide by the Transnational
Radical Party from Members of Governments, Parliamentarians, Nobel
Laureates and other eminent personalities from the political, business,
scientific, and cultural fields.
The Parliamentarians in the delegation are: Izet Muhamedagic, Member of the
Bosnian Parliament, Party for Democratic Action and member of the General
Council of the Transnational Radical Party; Zdravko Tomac, Member of the
Croatian Chamber of Counties, President of the Democratic Reform Party, and
Vice-President of the Transnational Radical Party Parliamentary Assembly;
Slavko Perovic, Member of the Parliament of Montenegro, President of the
Liberal Alliance and member of the Transnational Radical Party. The
delegation included Mona Makram-Ebeid, Member of Parliament from Egypt and
Walter McLean, former Canadian Minister of Immigration and Member of
Parliament.
Further signatories of the Appeal also in the delegation are: Arieh Neier,
President of the Open Society Fund and former Executive Director of the
American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch; Kemal Kurspahic,
Editor of the Sarajevo daily newspaper, "Oslobodjenje"; Yuri Orlov, nuclear
physicist and founder of the Helsinki Movement; Hans Janitschek, former
Secretary-General of the Socialist International;and Vincent McGee,former
Chairman of Amnesty International, USA and currently a Foundation
Executive.
These meetings took place 2 weeks before the first convening of the 11
judges elected in September by the General Assembly to serve on the
International Tribunal. The overriding concern of the Transnational Radical
Party is that the Tribunal be given adequate resources soon--both financial
and political--to push this process forward as quickly as possible to avoid
further human rights violations and halt the unspeakable atrocities now
occuring in the former Yugoslavia. A scant $500,000 has been allocated to
date for this Court. A further $31 million proposed by the
Secretary-General is awaiting a positive vote from the General Assembly.
Uncertainty remains regarding the source of these funds.
The Transnational Radical Party, founded in 1989 and committed to resolving
transnational issues and to the establishment of legal authorities and
institutions to safeguard international Law and civil rights, currently has
more than 40,000 members from 45 countries, among these over 500
Parliamentarians from over 70 diverse national political parties.
