PRESS RELEASE

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.