The Tribunal's Inventory
Tribunal Update 139: Last Week In The Hague (16-23 August, 1999)
The Tribunal's Inventory
Tribunal Update 139: Last Week In The Hague (16-23 August, 1999)
Detention Unit Inmates
Out of 65 publicly indicted individuals, 30 are in the custody of the Tribunal, in the UN detention unit in Scheveningen. The ICTY has thus far publicly indicted 90 individuals in total.
In the meantime, the Prosecutor has dropped charges against 18 accused, six others have died (two of them died in the detention unit). The number of individuals listed on the so-called "sealed" indictments has not been publicly disclosed.
The UN Detention unit is located inside the complex of the Netherland's prison in the part of The Hague called Scheveningen. Having been extended in the summer last year, it now has enough room to accommodate 36 accused.
The current inmates of the detention unit arrived in the following order:
1. Dusko Tadic ("Prijedor Indictment") - arrested in Munich on 12 February 1994; in the Hague custody since 24 April 1995. 2. Tihomir Blaskic ("Lasva Valley") - surrendered voluntarily on 1 April 1996. 3. Zdravko Mucic ("Celebici") -arrested in Vienna in March 1996, transferred to The Hague on 9 April 1996. 4. Hazim Delich ("Celebici") - arrested in Bosnia-Herzegovina in May 1966, transferred to the Hague detention on 13 June 1996. 5. Esad Landzo ("Celebici") - arrested in Bosnia-Herzegovina in May 1996, transferred to the Hague on 13 June 1996. 6. Dario Kordic ("Lasva Valley") - surrendered voluntarily on 6 October 1997. 7. Mario Cerkez ("Lasva Valley) - surrendered voluntarily on 6 October 1997. 8. Zoran Kupreskic ("Ahmici") - surrendered voluntarily on 6 October 1997. 9. Mirjan Kupreskic ("Ahmici") - surrendered voluntarily on 6 October 1997. 10. Vladimir Santic ("Ahmici") - surrendered voluntarily on 6 October 1997. 11. Drago Josipovic ("Ahmici") - surrendered voluntarily on 6 October 1997. 12. Dragan Josipovic ("Ahmici") - surrendered voluntarily on 6 October 1997 13. Vlatko Kupreskic ("Ahmici") - detained by SFOR on 18 December 1997. 14. Anto Furundzija (''Lasva Valley") - detained by SFOR on 18 December 1997. 15. Goran Jelisic ("Brcko") - detained by SFOR on 22 January 1998. 16. Miroslav Tadic ("Bosanski Samac") - surrendered voluntarily on 14 February1998. 17. Milan Simic ("Bosanski Samac") - surrendered voluntarily on 14 February 1998. From March 1998 until June 1999, he was provisionally released from detention due to health problems. 18. Simo Zaric ("Bosanski Samac") - surrendered voluntarily on 24 February 1998. 19. Dragoljub Kunarac ("Foca") - surrendered voluntarily on 4 March 1998. 20. Miroslav Kvocka ("Omarska") - arrested by SFOR on 8 April 1998. 21. Mladen Radic ("Omarska") - arrested by SFOR on 8 April 1998. 22. Zoran Zigich ("Omarska" and "Keraterm") - surrendered voluntarily on 16 April 1998. 23. Milorad Krnojelac ("Foca") - arrested by SFOR on 15 June 1998. 24. Milojica Kos ("Omarska") - arrested by SFOR on 28 June 1998. 25. Stevan Todorovic ("Bosanski Samac") - arrested by SFOR on 27 September 1998. 26. Radislav Krstic ("Srebrenica") - arrested by SFOR on 2 December 1998. 27. Dragan Kolundzija ("Keraterm") - arrested by SFOR 7 June 1999. 28. Radoslav Brdjanin ("Bosanska Krajina") - arrested by SFOR 6 July 1999. 29. Radomir Kovac ("Foca") - arrested by SFOR 2 August 1999. 30. Vinko Martinovic ("Mostar") - arrested in Croatia and transferred to the custody of the Tribunal on 9 August 1999.
Eight more persons have stayed in the UN Detention Unit, in various periods, of whom two have died. The others have either been released pending appeal or are serving their sentence.
Drazen Erdemovic ("Srebrenica") has been in the custody of the Tribunal since May 1996 to the spring of 1998 when he was transferred to a prison in Norway where he is serving the sentence of 5 years' imprisonment.
Zejnil Delalic ("Celebici") - was in custody since May 1996 until October 1998, when he was found not guilty on all counts and released.
Zlatko Aleksovski ("Lasva Valley") was in custody from 28 April 1997 until 25 June 1999 in The Hague where he served a sentence of two and a half years' imprisonment.
Milan Kovacevic ("Prijedor") - arrested in the SFOR action on 26 June 1997. Died whilst in custody in August 1998.
Slavko Dokmanovic ("Vukovar") - arrested by the members of UNTAES and OTP in June 1997. Committed suicide in the cell of The Hague Detention Unit on the eve of the announcement of the sentence in June 1998.
Marinko Katava, Ivan Santic and Pero Skopljak - surrendered to the Tribunal in October 1997, released on 19 December the same year after the Prosecutor dropped the charges.
Fugitives
Thirty-three persons publicly indicted of war crimes are still at large or hiding from the international justice. Parallel to the indictments, the Tribunal issued the warrants for their arrest, which it sent to the states where the accused live or are believed to live.
Along with these "national" warrants, the Tribunal also issued the international arrest warrants, that were distributed to all countries in the world, for a total of 13 accused. The arrest warrants were also passed on to the international forces deployed in Bosnia and in Kosovo - SFOR and KFOR.
The following persons are currently listed on The Hague warrants:
"Milosevic And Others " - Kosovo Indictment - confirmed on 24 May 1999.
1. Slobodan Milosevic 2. Milan Milutinovic 3. Nikola Sainovic 4. Dragoljub Ojdanic 5. Vlajko Stojiljkovic.
The accused live in the territory of FRY. The international arrest warrants have been issued after them, and there was a court order for the "freezing" of their assets abroad.
"Naletilic And Martinovic" - Mostar Indictment - confirmed on 21 December 1998.
6. Mladen Naletilic "Tuta."
The accused is in the prison in Croatia.
"Arkan" - An indictment under "seal" - was confirmed - on 30 September 1997.
7. Zeljko Raznjatovic - Arkan
The accused is in FRY.
"Foca" - Indictment was confirmed on 26 June 1996.
8. Gojko Jankovic 9. Janko Janjic 10. Zoran Vukovic 11. Dragan Zelenovic 12. Radovan Stankovic
The accused are assumed to still be in Foca.
"Karadzic And Mladic" - Two indictments: "general" (of 25 July 1995)and "Srebrenica" (of 16 November 1995)
13. Radovan Karadzic 14. Ratko Mladic
Karadzic is assumed to be hiding in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Mladic was last seen in FRY. International arrest warrants were issued for both of them.
"Mrksic And Others" - Vukovar Indictment - confirmed on 7 November 1995.
15. Mile Mrksic 16. Veselin Sljivancanin 17. Miroslav Radic
The accused are staying in FRY, and international arrest warrants were issued for them.
"Rajic" - Indictment for Stupni Do - confirmed 29 August 1995.
18. Ivica Rajic
Assumed to be hiding in Bosnia-Herzegovina. An international arrest warrant was issued for him.
"Marinic" - Lasva Valley - Indictment confirmed on 10 November 1995.
19. Zoran Marinic
There is presently no data on where the accused is hiding.
"Martic" - Bombing of Zagreb - Indictment confirmed on 25 July 1995.
20. Mile Martic
Assumed to be living in Bosnia-Herzegovina. An international arrest warrant has been issued for him.
"Jelisic I Cesic" - Camp "Luka" in Brcko - Indictment confirmed on 21 July 1995.
21. Ranko Cesic
Assumed to be hiding in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"Simic And Others " - Indictment Bosanski Samac - confirmed on 21 July 1995.
22. Blagoje Simic
There is no current information on where he is hiding.
"Sikirica And Others " - camp Keraterm - Indictment confirmed on 21 July 1995.
23. Dusko Sikirica 24. Damir Dosen 25. Dragan Fustar 26. Nenad Banovic 27. Predrag Banovic 28. Dusan Knezevic.
The accused are assumed to be hiding in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"Tadic And Borovnica" - Prijedor Indictment - confirmed on 13 February 1995.
29. Goran Borovnica.
There is no current information on where he is hiding.
"Meakic And Others " - Camp Omarska - Indictment confirmed 13 February 1995.
30. Zeljko Meakic 31. Dragoljub Prcac 32. Momcilo Gruban
The accused are assumed to be hiding in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"Nikolic" - Camp Susica - The first Tribunal's indictment of 4 November 1994.
33. Dragan Nikolic
An international arrest warrant has been issued for the accused. It is not known where he is hiding.
Proceedings
A total of 12 trials have thus far been initiated at the Hague Tribunal, two new ones will start this autumn, whilst five cases are in various stages of the pre-trail proceedings. Three trials are currently underway, while the Trial Chamber's judgement is currently pending in one case.
Four cases are currently before the Appeals Chamber. Two trials were interrupted due to the death of the accused. Only did in one case the accused plead guilty on all counts, so that this sentence was pronounced without the proving procedure, after the sentencing hearing during which mitigating and aggravating factors were discussed.
I Current Trials
"Kupreskic And Others" (Ahmici)
Trial proceedings in the case against Zoran, Mirjan and Vlatko Kupreskic, Dragan Papic, Drago Josipovic and Vlado Santic started on 17 August 1998 and should end this October.
"Kordic And Cerkez" (Lasva Valley)
The trial of Dario Kordic and Mario Cerkez started on 12 April 1999. The presentation of evidence by the prosecution is currently underway.
"Jelisic" (Brcko)
The accused Goran Jelisic pleaded guilty to the 31st count of the indictment (killings) but not for the count charging him with genocide. The trial for genocide began on 30 November 1998, but was suspended due to illness and will continue this autumn.
II Awaiting Sentence:
"Blaskic" (Lasva Valley)
The trial of general Tihomir Blaskic lasted from 24 June 1997 to 30 July 1999. The Trial Chamber's judgement is expected by the end of the year.
III Appellate Proceedings
"Tadic" (Prijedor Idictment)
Dusko Tadic was sentenced with the original judgement to 20 years imprisonment. The Appeals Chamber confirmed the sentence on 15 July 1999 and declared Tadic guilty on nine more counts, but has still not passed a final sentence.
''Celebici'' (Camp Celebici near Konjic)
After the original sentences handed down on 16 November 1998, the prosecutor appealed the release of Zejnil Delalic, and the sentence of Zdravko Mucic (7 years' imprisonment) and Hazim Delic (20 years). The defence appealed to the sentences for Mucic, Delic and Esad Landzo (15 years).
"Furundzija" (Lasva Valley)
The defence lodged the the appeal on the judgment and the sentence of 10 years imprisonment on Anto Furundzija which was handed down on 10 December 1998.
"Aleksovski" (Lasva Valley)
The prosecution and the defence lodged an appeal against the judgement and the sentence of two and a half years imprisonment for Zlatko Aleksovski which was passed on 25 June 1999.
IV Admitted Guilt
Drazen Erdemovic (Srebrenica) Serving the sentence of 5 years' imprisonment in Norway.
V Interrupted Trials:
Slavko Dokmanovic (Vukovar Indictment) - the trial was interrupted on the eve of the passing of the sentence in July 1998 after the accused's suicide.
Milan Kovacevic (Prijedor Indictement) - trial was interrupted in August 1998 following the death of the accused.
VI Waiting List:
The pre-trial proceedings were completed and the beginning of the trials is expected this autumn in the following cases:
''Krstic'' (Srebrenica) - General Radislav Krstic
"Simich And Others" (Bosanski Samac) - Milan Simic, Miroslav Tadic, Simo Zaric, Stevan Todorovic.
The pre-trial proceedings are underway in five cases:
"Kvocka And Others " (Omarska/Keraterm) Miroslav Kvocka, Mladjo Radic, Milojica Kos, Zoran Zigic.
The prosecutor has submitted a request to join Dragan Kolundzija to this indictment, who is now on the "Sikirica and others" (Keraterm)Indictment.
"Foca" Dragoljub Kunarac and Radomir Kovac.
"Krnojelac" (Foca) Milorad Krnojelac.
"Brdjanin" (Bosanska Krajina) Radoslav Brdjanin.
"Naletilic I Martinovic" (Mostar indictment)
Investigations
The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia does not generally detail ongoing investigations. Inquiries are met with the staple answer: "It is not the prosecutor's practice to comment on operative questions."
However, on the basis of some public statements by retiring Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour and her deputy Graham Blewitt-and judging by the way the prosecutors approached certain trials, as well as thanks to the insight in the previous strategy by the prosecution, it is possible to undertake some caluculated guesswork on what events and which persons The Hague prosecution may be interested in.
It is not speculation, but fact, that there are presently 10 investigating teams working for the prosecution. According to Blewitt, each one "is conducting at least one investigation."
The total number of the current investigations is probably somewhere between 10 and 20 and are being conducted in Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
Kosovo
Two parallel "Kosovo investigations" are underway. The first is conducted according to the already issued indictment against Slobodan Milosevic, Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic and Vlajko Stojiljkovic. The aim is not only to collect the evidence for
the trial against the accused, but also to establish whether there is a basis for new charges (e.g. genocide) and additional indictees. The list of candidates for new accused was publicly announced back on 26 March 1999.
Prosecutor Louise Arbour send a letter on that day to 13 political, military and police leaders of FRY and Serbia, warning them - in relation to the Kosovo conflict - on their responsibilities according to the international law.
Apart from the five accused, Arbour's letter was also addressed to: Mirko Marjanovic, Momir Bulatovic, Frenki Simatovic, Nebojsa Pajkovic, Sreten Lukic, Ljubinko Cvetic, Radomir Markovic and Zoran Sokolovic.
Since they were warned, these individuals should not be surprised if they find themselves on an extended indictment.
The second investigation is being conducted in relation to other Kosovo crimes, that may be on the new indictments, both against the Serbian forces, but also, as Blewitt has recently warned, against the KLA.
Bosnia
The Kosovo indictment against Milosevic, Arbour stated on 27 May 1999, is not "the last word" on her investigation into the role of the current Yugoslav and former Serbian president.
One may assume that an investigation into his responsibility for the Yugoslav and Serbian political and military leadership -and the violation of the international humanitarian law during the wars in Bosnia and Croatia is presently underway.
Given the prosecution's strategy to "climb the ladder of responsibility as high as the evidence can take it" as well as the way - in the trials of Blaskic, Kordic and Cerkez - in which the international character of the Croatian-Muslim conflict in 1993 was proved, it would not be a big surprise if one of the "Bosnian investigations" concerned the responsibility of the political and military leadership in Zagreb, headed by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman.
Further, given the continuation of the forensic activity in that area, as well as the extent of the crime, one could assume that the prosecution has not had the last word in the "Srebrenica case" despite three publicly announced indictments so far (Karadzic and Mladic, Erdemovic and General Krstic). Therefore, new "Srebrenica indictments" are possible, just as it is possible that they may have already been issued, but are under the Tribunal's "seal".
Not one indictment has been publically issued in regard to the seizing and ethnic cleansing of Eastern Bosnia (excluding the "Foca" indictment which is related to the "sexual enslavement" of Muslim women).
It is unlikely that "Tuta" Naletilic and "Stela" Martinovic may remain the only accused for war crimes in Mostar and western Herzegovina.
Finally, judging by the interest the prosecutors demonstrated for some testimonies in the trials of Bosnian Croats accused of crimes in Central Bosnia, it could be concluded, with a large degree of certainty, that a possible violations of the international humanitarian law by Muslim forces, committed during the war against the Serbs and Croats, are under investigation.
Croatia
It no secret that The Hague prosecutors are "very interested" in the operations "Lightning" and "Storm", as well as in the events in Gospic, Medak pocket and Pakrac meadow. Arbour herself
has recently confirmed that, detailing what documments she had requested from Zagreb.
Prior to that, Blewitt was forced to admit that the confidential information about the "Knin investigation" - which The New York Times published on 21 March 1999, had indeed came from The Hague.
In that article, generals of the Croatian Army Ante Gotovina, Mirko Norac and Ivan Cermak, are mentioned as primary candidates for indictment. But this does not exclude the possibility that Tudjman too may be indicted.
Further, it is certain that with the indictments for Vukovar, the prosecution has not finished investigating the responsibility of the JNA and the paramilitary formations from Serbia - and the Yugoslav and the Serbian leadership - for crimes committed in Croatia in 1991. The investigators have said themselves that the shelling of Dubrovnik is under investigation.
One could also assume that, apart from the massacre in Ovcara for which the "Vukovar Troika" has been accused, some other events in Eastern Slavonija in the latter half of 1991 are under investigation.
With Arbour's interest in the documents of the Zadar trial in absentio of General Momcilo Perisic and other officers of the former JNA, one cmight conclude that the role of JNA in the shelling of Zadar (1991) and Mostar (1992) is also under investigation.
In short, we can expect a fair number of new announcements from The Hague Tribunal in the coming months.
