From ditaaa at yahoo.com  Mon Nov  3 17:41:46 2003
From: ditaaa at yahoo.com (Aferdita Hakaj)
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 14:41:46 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [NYC-L] Fwd: Conference
Message-ID: <20031103224146.29345.qmail@web9901.mail.yahoo.com>



Note: forwarded message attached.


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From: "United Nations Students Assoc." <jjayunsa at yahoo.com>
Subject: Conference
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 10:10:36 -0800 (PST)
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From ditaaa at yahoo.com  Tue Nov  4 00:04:53 2003
From: ditaaa at yahoo.com (Aferdita Hakaj)
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 21:04:53 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [NYC-L] Security, Access, and Humanitarian Action Conference 
Message-ID: <20031104050453.2192.qmail@web9902.mail.yahoo.com>

This is a great event that I thought some of you might be 
interested in attending.  For those of you who are not familiar with 
the names of some of these speakers, I would like to interject that you 
will not be disappointed.  One of the coordinators of this event asked 
me if I knew anyone who wanted to attend, but I need to get names and 
email addresses from everyone.  So if you are interested in attending 
this conference please email the United Nations Student Association, 
Reason: Security, Access, and Humanitarian Action Conference at 
jjayunsa at yahoo.com. jjayunsa at aol.com


A Tribute to Sergio Viera DeMello
December 8, 2003
Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs
Fordham University at Lincoln Center

Welcome/Forward - United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan
Introduction - Kevin M. Cahill, M.D. (Chairman)

Human Rights and Right of Refugees

1. Sadako Ogata       - Overview
2. Irene Khan         - Cambodia and East Timor
3. Francis Deng       - Internally Displaced Persons

Maintianing Humanitarian Space in Conflict Zones

1. Jan Egeland         - Overview
2. Cornelio Sommaruga   - Bosnia
3. Peter Hansen        - Palestine

Establishing a Credible UN Administration/Protecting the Rights of 
Minorities

1. Jan Eliasson        - Overview
2. Shashi Tharoor      - Cambodia
3. Martin Griffiths    - Kosovo

Working with Local Communities to Create Leadership and Governance

1. Mark Malloch-Brown   - Overview
2. Jose Ramos-Horta    - East Timor
3. Kieran Prendergast   - Iraq

Justice and Transition to Independence

1. Nancy Soderberg     - Overview
2. Dennis MacNamara    - Cambodia/Kosovo/East Timor
3. David Owen          - Bosnia



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From drmljg at earthlink.net  Fri Nov  7 12:06:12 2003
From: drmljg at earthlink.net (Laurence J. Galian)
Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 12:06:12 -0500
Subject: [NYC-L] BOOK RELEASE CELEBRATION
Message-ID: <410-22003115717612500@earthlink.net>

BOOK RELEASE CELEBRATION
 
?The Sun at Midnight: The Revealed Mysteries of the Ahlul Bayt Sufis? 
by 
Laurence Galian
 
Never before has the story of Sufis following the Ahlul Bayt tradition been presented from the perspective of an American Sufi. The book features tales of the Guide to Prophet Moses: Hazreti Khezr updated into a contemporary story. Also included are beautiful stories of each member of the Ahlul Bayt (the family of Muhammad: Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hussain). The celebration will include a reading and book signing by Mr. Galian and a reception. 

Laurence Galian is a faculty member of the Hofstra University College of Continuing Education, and a dervish of Muzaffer Efendi al-Jerrahi. He has been a student of Sufism for more than two decades. Galian has traveled the world collecting stories and studying with various Sufi teachers and groups. In 1996 he renewed his hand with the Jerrahi Order and in the same year became a dervish of Sheikh Burhaneddin Efendi of the Rifa?i Order from Izmir, Turkey. Presently, he is an active member of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi community.
November 15           Saturday       8PM-11PM                Free Admission
 
SUFI BOOKS 
227 West Broadway 
(between Franklin & White St. in Tribeca) 
New York, NY 10013 
For more information call Laurence Galian at: (516) 843-9019 or visit http://www.quiddity-inc.com
    
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From mentor at alb-net.com  Tue Nov 11 11:53:58 2003
From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana)
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 11:53:58 -0500 (EST)
Subject: [NYC-L] [Kcc-News] Petition for Kosova Missing Persons Inquiry
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.58.0311111147150.21388@alb-net.com>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
  Kosova Crisis Center (KCC) News: http://www.alb-net.com/index.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 

			WE ARE ALL MISSING THEM

Petition text Link: http://www.kan-ks.org/index1.html

Sign it at:
   http://www.kan-ks.org/cgi-bin/gb1/guestbook.cgi?action=add

Coordinating Council of Family Associations of the Hostages, Missing and
families with war victims (KKAF), and the network of activists Kosova
Action Network (KAN) consider that:

Four years after the war in Kosova, the fate of over 3.500 persons who were
kidnapped and kept hostage remains unknown. Families of the missing have
the right to know about their loved ones. Revelation of the truth is needed
urgently. The conflict is not over until what has happened to them is
disclosed and justice is implemented. Until now, there were no arrests,
accusations or sentences concerning this issue. Why from out of over 900
bodies found in mass graves in Serbia since the spring of 2001, only 153 of
them have been returned to Kosova?! The Government of Serbia was in the
past responsible for committing the crimes and nowadays it is responsible
for concealing the truth. This Government does not open dossiers and leaves
criminals walking around free. UNMIK has not produce any results, even
though it is able to do so and is the responsible authority.

Inhuman and groundless delay in returning the bodies is a violation of the
1949 Geneva Convention, which states that the disappearance and keeping
secret the evidence about the location of war hostages is a form of
psychological torture to families who are in a state of emotional strain
and anxiety. The crime perpetrated towards those same families continues.

By not seeking and restoring justice for its citizens, UNMIK has also
breached many articles and protocols of the International Convention for
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) towards victims and their families.
UNMIK as a peace mission can only create peace if it implements justice.
Our main objective is justice and should, by all means, be upheld by those
who govern our country and represent us.

Solution of this criminal situation includes return of hundreds of exhumed
bodies from mass graves in Serbia and bringing to light the fate of over
3.500 Kosovar citizens, with no ethnic, religious or racial discrimination.
This should be of the highest priority which cannot wait any longer.

Taking into consideration all these facts, we, the above-mentioned, are
organizing collection of signatures for the following:

PETITION

that is addressed to the:

 - Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Kofi Annan
 - U.S. Secretary of State, Mr.Colin Powell
 - Commissionner in charge of European Commission External Relations,
   Mr.Chris Patten
 - EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy,
   Mr.Javier Solana
 - Special Representative of the Secretary General of UN, Mr. Harri Holkeri
 - Assembly, Government, and President of Kosova

and with which we demand:

1. Uncovering of the facts about the fate of Kosova kidnapped citizens and
their return to Kosova. We ask that international aid and loans to Serbia
be conditional upon the opening and publication of police and military
dossiers. We also demand UNMIK should open the dossiers and initiate legal
proceedings.

2. Return to Kosova of about 800 bodies exhumed from mass graves in Serbia
by 24th March 2004. We request forensic evidence for more than 900 bodies
to be submited to Kosova authorities and all further proceedure to be
promulgated in Kosova.

3. An independent investigator to inquire into all issues related to the
transportation and exhumation of these corpses and to initiate the conduct
of the legal prosecution of these crimes.

4. The return of corpses and opening of dossiers, as a non-negotiable and
non-technical issue, to serve as a priority prerequisite in all future
talks between Kosova and Serbia, whenever they take place and regardless of
whom will they be chaired and/or conducted by.

KKAF
Sheremet Ademi
Nesrete Kumnova

KAN
Linda Gusia
Albin Kurti
______________________________________________________________
If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
kcc-news-unsubscribe at alb-net.com , or visit KCC-NEWS's page at:
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From eb246 at columbia.edu  Tue Nov 11 22:21:10 2003
From: eb246 at columbia.edu (Erkanda Bujari)
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 22:21:10 -0500
Subject: [NYC-L] [Fwd: [CivilSoc] New York University Law
 School--Scholarships for 10-15	Global Public Service Lawyers]
Message-ID: <3FB1A726.5040100@columbia.edu>


To whoever qualifies. Pls distribute.
----------------------------------

NYU School of Law SCHOLARSHIPS for Public Service LL.M.

NYU School of Law has created the first-ever LL.M. degree in Public Service
Law as part of the Global Public Service Law Project. This is a one year
masters program for lawyers who will have at least two years of
post-graduate legal public service work experience upon arrival.  At least
ten scholars will be non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents.  Scholars can
apply for a full or partial scholarship.   Full scholarships include a
tuition waiver, travel, and stipend. United States citizens and permanent
residents are not eligible for a full Global Public Service Scholarship.
The Global Public Service Law Project defines public service law to be
lawyering for social and political justice, including such areas as the
provision of legal services; human rights; labor advocacy and organizing;
civil society and institution building; the protection of the environment,
the rights of women, indigenous peoples, and minorities; government work;
and criminal law.  .    

The Project aims not only to provide a first-rate theoretical education to
the 10-15 Global Public Service Scholars who visit NYU each year, but also
to assist them practically in their difficult and often groundbreaking work
making change in the legal structure and wider culture of their societies.
This practical approach is woven into the Project by structuring the
curricular and extra-curricular work to allow the student-lawyers to learn
from each other and to trade practical strategies across borders, and by
sponsoring the Global Public Service Fellowship Program, which supports
graduates to work for up to one year at a law-related public interest
organization of their choosing upon graduation.  Through the Global Public
Service Law Project,  NYU hopes that it can, in a small but powerful way,
help local activist lawyers in their work, while also feeding the emerging
phenomenon of cross-border public interest lawyering.   

The deadline for applying for the 2004-2005 academic year is December 1,
2003.

The Global Public Service Law Project's website is
http://www.law.nyu.edu/programs/globalpublicservice/.  The e-mail for the
project is law.gpslp at nyu.edu.  

Diana Hortsch 
Global Public Service Law Project
NYU School of Law
110 W. Third Street, Second Floor
New York, NY 10012
(212)992-8814 (tel.)
(212)995-4529 (fax)
law.gpslp at nyu.edu
http://www.law.nyu.edu/globallawschool/gpslp.html 




_______________________________________________
CivilSoc mailing list
CivilSoc at lists.civilsoc.org
http://lists.civilsoc.org/mailman/listinfo/civilsoc

IT solutions for international development - http://www.partners-intl.net




From ditaaa at yahoo.com  Thu Nov 13 16:44:36 2003
From: ditaaa at yahoo.com (Aferdita Hakaj)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 13:44:36 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [NYC-L] Front page of Today's New York Times!
Message-ID: <20031113214436.56113.qmail@web9902.mail.yahoo.com>


For Albanians, It?s Come to This: A Son for a TVNovember 13, 2003 By NICHOLAS WOOD A substantial trade in children has established itself inAlbania, Europe?s most impoverished and isolatedcountry.http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/international/europe/13ALBA.html?ex=1069759683&ei=1&en=4b05ca5829b3ff32---------------------------------Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imaginereading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like!Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoynow for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here:http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.htmlHOW TO ADVERTISE---------------------------------For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contactonlinesales at nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfoFor general information about NYTimes.com, write to help at nytimes.com.  Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company



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From ditaaa at yahoo.com  Sat Nov 15 11:01:15 2003
From: ditaaa at yahoo.com (Aferdita Hakaj)
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 08:01:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [NYC-L] Nov. 13, New York Times Front Page Article on Albania
Message-ID: <20031115160115.14402.qmail@web9908.mail.yahoo.com>

To view the Article, click on the link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/international/europe/13ALBA.html?ex=1069759683&ei=1&en=4b05ca5829b3ff32
___________________________________________________
 
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: GQKokalari at aol.com
 
 
To all concerned,
 
Today,  as a result of yesterday's insulting article on the front page of the New York Times about Albania and child trafficking, I had a long telephone conversation with a senior editor from the Times.   
 
In essence,  I questioned the figure of 300,000 gypsies and asked him to provide me with a fact check and the source of this information, and he agreed to confirm this for me.    I also expressed my opinion that the article was the most recent in a long series of articles published by the NYT that had an anti-Albanian bias.   I cited another recent NYT article, Ian Fisher's August 6, 2003 piece that questioned Mother Teresa's ethnic identity.
 
With respect to the Mother Teresa issue, I asserted that for the article to have been more balanced, Ian Fisher should have mentioned the fact that the Vatican website declares Mother Teresa an Albanian and that Agi Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa's niece and only living relative, maintains that her father, Lazar, and her aunt, Mother Teresa, as well as their father, were  Albanian.   I also suggested that the NYT consider doing an interview with her.  
 
During my conversation with the editor, I inquired about why, to my knowledge, there were never any articles in the NYT praising Albanians for their heroic efforts at saving 100% of the Jews who sought refuge in Albania during the Nazi occupation.  He said that he was not sure if this topic was ever covered by the NYT because he was not intimately familiar with Albanian issues, which is understandable due to the fact that it's not his area of responsibility.       
 
The editor claimed there is no "institutional bias" at the NYT against Albania, and I told him that although I appreciate his position on this matter, there may have been individual NYT journalists who had an axe to grind toward Albania, and I mentioned both Nick Gage and David Binder as examples
 
What does this all mean?

Well, first, it is not going to change the past vis a vis any negative articles the NYT has published about Albania  - in this regard, "the horses have left the barn."   That being said,  I encourage Albanians to write to the NYT to protest yesterday's article.  Although letters from Albanian organizations should be encouraged, it is also important that as many individuals as possible send letters so that the point is well made.   Will your letters  be published?  Unlikely.  But that's not the point.   The NYT should know how we feel in hope that its editors will maintain objectivity over what is said about Albanians in the future. This is one method by which public opinions can be influenced.
 
But at the end of the day, most of the problems within Albania, and human trafficking in particular (and make no mistake, the Albanians are no innocents in this regard), can be traced to the moral bankruptcy of its leaders.  I am afraid we may have to wait until we have credible, responsible leadership in Albania before we see a series of positive NYT articles on Albanians.
 
The email address to send your letters is:
 
letters at nyt.com
 
Address you message to the Editor, limit your letters to 150 words or less and include your name, address and home and daytime telephone numbers. 
 
Talking points could include:
 
1) The figure of 300,000 gypsies has no basis in fact and request a retraction;
 
2)  The article did not merit front page NET coverage;
 
3)  Request the that the NYT do a story on Albania's Rigthteous during WWII;
 
4)  Stressing Mother Teresa's Albanian ethnic identity.
 
You may be thinking, "what is my letter going to do?"  Alone, who knows?  But if they get enough letters it will get their attention.   You can sit there and stew about this and complain to other Albanians, or you can do something about it.  The choice is yours and its just one click away!  
 
Please feel free to pass this along.
 
Gary Kokalari




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From mentor at alb-net.com  Sun Nov 16 12:24:46 2003
From: mentor at alb-net.com (Albanians-Today News and Information)
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 12:24:46 -0500 (EST)
Subject: [NYC-L] [Albanians-Today] Greece: Immigrantion control-Human rights
	abuses against Albanians
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.58.0311161219380.13055@alb-net.com>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
  Albanians-Today News and Information:  http://www.alb-net.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur250082003

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement

AI Index: EUR 25/008/2003 (Public)
News Service No: 259
14 November 2003

Greece: Immigrantion control-Human rights abuses against Albanians

Amnesty International is concerned by a persisting pattern of ill-treatment
of Albanians suspected of being undocumented immigrants by Greek police
officers and soldiers.

Shpetim Shabani (28) from Lushnja district in Albania, who says that he was
legally in Greece, was arrested on 10 November in the town of Agrinio. In a
statement to Albanian border police on 12 November, he alleged that three
Greek police officers, dressed in camouflage uniforms, entered the bar
where he was drinking coffee, asked to see his papers, and then, in public
view beat him with their guns, kicked and punched him. He was then taken to
a police station, where he was held for two days, before being forcibly
returned to Albania. Three days later, the bruises on his body were still
reportedly visible, and his left shoulder was very painful.

Two other men gave written statements to the Albanian police alleging
ill-treatment. Albert Prifti, from Kucova district, and Vetiak Mane from
Lushnja district, alleged that they were beaten by border guards or
soldiers on border duties, after being arrested as they attempted
clandestinely to enter Greece on foot. Another young man, Lisian Telhaj,
also from Lushnja district, who claimed to be legally employed in Athens,
told journalists that he too had been beaten by police after his arrest
near the Greek-Albanian border.

These incidents follow upon the tragic death in September of Vullnet Bytyci
(18) from Has district in Albania, about whom Amnesty International wrote
earlier to the Greek authorities. He was fatally shot by a Greek border
guard on the evening of 23 September 2003 while attempting to enter Greece
clandestinely. He was not armed. According to press reports, the guard was
arrested but released several days later pending investigation on a charge
of "reckless homicide". In the same letter, Amnesty International raised
six other cases said to have taken place in the week from 15 to 22
September 2003 involving Albanian citizens who alleged that they had been
brutally beaten by border-guards after being arrested. One of these, Gori
Halili (46) from Elbasan district, who had been working in the village of
Kalithea, alleged that he was beaten, kicked and robbed by guards serving
on the Greek-Albanian border near Krystallopigi, before being returned to
Albania. On his return he was admitted to hospital where he was found to
have suffered a ruptured spleen, and had to undergo an operation for its
removal. Another man, Rrahman Pashollari, who alleged that he had been
similarly detained and ill-treated by border guards, sustained a fractured
rib. At least two further such incidents have been reported in October and
early November.

Amnesty International has called on the Greek authorities to instruct
police and soldiers on border guard duties to limit the use of firearms to
situations involving imminent threat of death or serious injury, in line
with international standards. It emphasized that torture and ill-treatment
are absolutely prohibited by international human rights treaties ratified
by Greece and by Greek domestic law. The organisation calls for all such
incidents and allegations of ill-treatment to be promptly, thoroughly and
impartially investigated, and for those responsible to be brought to
justice, and the victims granted compensation.

______________________________________________________________
If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
albanians-today-unsubscribe at alb-net.com , or visit Albanians-Today's page at:
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From jeton at hotmail.com  Tue Nov 18 12:13:22 2003
From: jeton at hotmail.com (Jeton Ademaj)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 12:13:22 -0500
Subject: [NYC-L] War Crimes Plea Bargains
Message-ID: <BAY9-F52hO1epN3C9em00013600@hotmail.com>

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/18/international/europe/18TRIB.html?pagewanted=all&position=

November 18, 2003
Plea Deals Being Used to Clear Balkan War Tribunal's Docket
By MARLISE SIMONS

HE HAGUE, Nov. 17 ? The United Nations tribunal for the war crimes in the 
Balkans in the 1990's is suddenly rushing through its backlog of cases, 
adopting a disputed strategy to promote plea bargains with much reduced 
sentences in exchange for cooperation and guilty pleas.

The abrupt shift after seven years of methodical if plodding trials came in 
response to intense pressure from the United Nations Security Council and 
particularly the Bush administration, which pays almost a quarter of the 
tribunal's current $120 million annual budget and has little sympathy for 
such international courts. The Council has demanded that the court end all 
investigations next year and complete its trials by 2008.

"It's been a very strange six months," said one high court official. "The 
whole attitude has changed, with procedures speeding up, a lot of guilty 
pleas and trials halted as a result."

Since May this year, eight defendants, a record number, have accepted deals 
with the prosecution and pleaded guilty to various crimes related to the 
wars that broke up Yugoslavia.

Some have already received sentences far lighter than those handed down in 
the past for similar crimes, prompting a torrent of criticism from victims 
groups. Proponents of the plea bargaining, by contrast, point to the 
benefits of the new strategy, like the recent testimony that disclosed the 
detailed Bosnian Serb planning that went into the cold-blooded execution of 
some 7,000 Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995, the greatest massacre of the 
Yugoslav wars.

Lawyers also said the plea-bargaining option was now a topic of keen 
interest and debate at the United Nations jail here, where the former 
Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic is among the 51 inmates.

The plea bargaining, along with a series of changes in the rules, is part of 
the tribunal's exit strategy, which is being actively promoted by 
Pierre-Richard Prosper, the Bush administration's ambassador for war crimes 
issues.

The strategy calls for focusing on the most senior of those suspected of 
being war criminals, sending lower-level cases back to courts in the Balkans 
and speeding up proceedings by such steps as limiting the scope of 
prosecution evidence and allowing written testimony.

The Security Council even removed the chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, as 
head of a similar war crimes tribunal for Rwanda, ostensibly because that 
would allow her to devote her full attention to the Balkans court.

Some legal experts and judges are troubled, saying that serious charges are 
being dropped and deals are becoming too favorable. Some of the court's most 
experienced officers have even warned that in the rush to clear the docket, 
rules are being adjusted in ways that could undermine the tribunal's 
credibility.

Judge David Hunt, who previously served as a supreme court justice in 
Australia and is now an appeals judge here, recently vented his frustrations 
in an uncommonly strong dissent. He argued that the tribunal would not be 
judged by the number of its convictions or the speed at which it completed 
its mandate, "but by the fairness of its trials."

The judge objected strongly to several recent appeals decisions because, he 
said, they favored the prosecution rather than the rights of the accused. 
Those decisions, he warned, "will leave a spreading stain on this tribunal's 
reputation."

Such language is unusual in the polite quarters of the court's 16 permanent 
judges, where in-house squabbles rarely leak out. But Judge Hunt, who is 
retiring in November, told colleagues he felt obliged to warn against an 
unfortunate "new trend" in which some judges seemed eager to assist the 
prosecution in order to speed up cases.

One recent case that raised eyebrows came on Oct. 28 when Predrag Banovic, a 
Bosnian Serb who was a guard at the notorious Keraterm prison camp, pleaded 
guilty to taking part in the killing of five inmates and in beating 27 
others. He was sentenced to eight years, which may eventually be reduced to 
six for good behavior. Relatives of camp victims were infuriated. In similar 
cases earlier, low-level guards who had not pleaded guilty were given 
20-year sentences.

One of the three judges on the panel, Patrick Robinson, also found the 
sentence too light, saying in a dissent that the crimes to which Mr. Banovic 
had confessed warranted "a longer term of imprisonment." But the verdict 
stood. As part of the agreement, no side will appeal.

Prosecutors, however, say the new policy is a success, saving the court 
costly trials that have taken a year or more on average. They say that as 
part of most deals, defendants have agreed to cooperate and some are already 
providing vital new evidence, as in the case of the two Bosnian Serb 
officers who pleaded guilty to playing a role in the Srebrenica massacre and 
provided the first high-level insiders' account of how and by whom it was 
planned.

Those proponents also argue that the confessions make the continuing denials 
and revisionism about the war more difficult and the tribunal more 
acceptable in Serbia and Croatia, where many people regard the court as 
biased.

The plea-bargaining strategy was proposed by American lawyers on the 
prosecution staff. "Facilitating guilty pleas certainly makes sense from a 
management standpoint," said a senior prosecution official, asking not to be 
identified. "It's a reasonable solution to a difficult problem, how to get 
all our accused tried in the time available."

Plea bargaining is familiar in the American, British, Canadian and other 
justice systems, but those from other legal traditions took some persuading 
of the value of the new strategy, the official said. Tribunal judges are not 
bound by the sentence that the prosecution and defense propose as part of a 
deal, but no chamber has yet gone outside the suggested range. Since 1996, 
there have been 16 guilty pleas at the tribunal, 8 of them since May. 
Defense lawyers say they expect quite a few more. One defense counsel said 
he knew of several cases coming up for trial in which the lawyers now 
preferred to seek a deal.

"We're seeing a snowball effect," he said.

Judge Theodor Meron, the tribunal president, who is from the United States, 
insisted in an interview that the court's proceedings met every standard of 
fairness. He said the recent changes in the rules and strategy were "part of 
the court's coming of age." The court is now running at full steam, he said, 
but must also prepare to end its work in a "fair and orderly fashion."

An international tribunal cannot try all the defendants, Judge Meron 
continued. "We must now focus on the gravest crimes and on the leaders," he 
said.

"We could not do this in the beginning," he added, referring to the years 
when only a few, low-level defendants were delivered to the court.

Now, more than 40 people have been tried, and 27 others are preparing for 
trial. Four people are on trial at the moment, including Mr. Milosevic, 
whose proceedings move in fits and starts because of his poor health or 
complaints of fatigue. An additional 17 people who have been indicted remain 
fugitives, chief among them the Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Radovan 
Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic.

Mrs. Del Ponte recently told the Security Council that given the demand to 
focus on the most senior perpetrators, she had suspended the investigations 
of 62 people. But she said she planned to issue new indictments against up 
to 30 new, senior suspects before the end of 2004, when investigations must 
close.

One lawyer at the court raised the question of whether the workload and the 
rush to complete it would override the interest of justice. "It never 
should," he said. "It's a dilemma for any court, but people are wondering if 
it is happening here."

_________________________________________________________________
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