[Prishtina-E] FW: Yugoslavia: U.N. Must Press Kostunica on Tribunal

[kosova at jps.net]

FYI:

-----Original Message-----
From: Human Rights Watch [mailto:HRWpress at hrw.org]
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 4:23 PM
To: hrwpress at hrw.org
Subject: Yugoslavia: U.N. Must Press Kostunica on Tribunal


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

YUGOSLAVIA: U.N. MUST PRESS KOSTUNICA ON TRIBUNAL
Donors’ Conference Should Depend on Cooperation, Arrest of Indictees

(New York, May 8, 2001)—As Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica arrived
in the U.S., Human Rights Watch urged U.N. and U.S. officials to press
him to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Kostunica is slated to meet U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan on Tuesday.

“Last fall, Yugoslavia was admitted to the U.N. with the expectation
that it would abide by U.N. commitments -- including the requirement
that member states cooperate with the tribunal,” said Richard Dicker,
head of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice program.
“Unfortunately, cooperation has been halting and President Kostunica
himself has done little but denigrate the tribunal.  Indeed, he has said
point blank that Milosevic should never be sent to The Hague.  U.N.
officials should make clear that this approach is completely
unacceptable.”

Human Rights Watch called for the Secretary General and other officials
to raise Hague Tribunal cooperation as a central focus of the meeting.

Following meetings at the U.N. Tuesday, Kostunica will travel to
Washington, D.C., coincidentally crossing paths with Tribunal Prosecutor
Carla Del Ponte, who is also in Washington this week.  Kostunica will
have meetings with senior U.S. government officials and representatives
of the international financial institutions, where discussions will
likely focus on a donors’ conference for Yugoslavia, which the World
Bank and the E.U. have proposed for June 1, but the U.S. has suggested
be postponed until Yugoslavia demonstrates further commitment to
cooperate with the tribunal.

In a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State last week, Human Rights
Watch urged that the setting of a date for a donors’ conference on
Yugoslavia should be tied to specific benchmarks. “No donors’ conference
should be scheduled until Yugoslav citizens who have been indicted by
the tribunal are sent to The Hague,” said Dicker. “Kostunica must also
make a public commitment that Milosevic himself will be transferred to
the custody of the tribunal.”

A copy of the letter to Secretary Powell can be found at
http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/04/powellet0430.htm.


For further information, please contact:

In New York, Richard Dicker +1-212-216-1248
    Bogdan Ivanisevic +1-212-216-1282
In Washington, Tom Malinowski: +1-202-612-4358
In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +322-736-7838