Carla del Ponte in Belgrade: The Beginning Beset with Hardships

The Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunal in The Hague made maximum demands and wanted everything immediately: opening of the office of the Tribunal, arrests, extraditions. However, it will take many more talks and settlements before logistics of trials to Milosevic and his associates is arranged

AIM Belgrade, January 26, 2001

The first visit of the Chief Prosecutor of The Hague Tribunal Carla del Ponte to Belgrade, ended with just partial success. The very fact that what has happened was just four or five months ago inconceivable is a success: the high official of the International Tribunal for war crimes committed in former Yugoslavia which is extremely unpopular in Serbia, was making demands, handing out indictments and warrants for arrests, she talked with the president of the state for an hour, disputed with the ministers... The unsuccessful part is that she almost quarreled with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and that no specific agreement on further cooperation was reached.

Since del Ponte is no diplomat, she made maximum demands and wanted everything immediately: the arrest and extradition of Slobodan Milosevic and of the other 14 indicted for war crimes who are believed to be in Serbia. However, the reality – not only in Yugoslavia – is such that punishment of war criminals is primarily a political and not so much a legal problem. It will take many more talks and settlements before a trial actually begins.

Although she had especially insisted on meeting him, Carla del Ponte achieved the least with Kostunica. “I wanted a dialogue and the whole time I listened to complaints about the work of the Tribunal”, she lamented to the journalists at the end of her visit. She should not have been surprised. Ever since its foundation Kostunica who is an excellent lawyer, had been publicly stating founded complaints about the manner in which the Tribunal was founded and how it operates. During the entire last year's election campaign he kept repeating that he would not extradite anybody to The Hague, and on the very eve of Carla del Ponte's visit he announced that he would receive her but just in order to tell her what he thought about secret indictments, use of depleted uranium ammunition during 1999 NATO bombing, about the alleged massacre of Albanian civilians in the village of Racak which was the immediate cause for the bombing, an then just a few days ago from a concealed report of Finnish pathologists charged with this case it turned out that there was no evidence of a massacre...

In short, Carla del Ponte left the premises of the Presidency of FRY obviously furious, and in an interview to the International Herald Tribune Kostunica declared that “if somebody wishes to unstable the situation in this country, then it is possible to behave like Carla del Ponte”. In the talks with and about del Ponte, for the first time his proverbial coolness and temperance left him.

Other leaders of the now ruling Democratic Opposition of Serbia (sounds confusing, but the coalition has not changed its name when it took over power) were more complaisant to the guest from The Hague. Federal ministers of police, justice and foreign affairs have not hesitated for a moment – like Kostunica – to receive del Ponte, and in their statements and declarations there was no formulation from the President's office that “deep differences” were expressed, nor that the Tribunal was actually proclaiming collective guilt of the Serb people.

Foreign minister Goran Svilanovic informed the Swiss lawyer on the official stand of the Yugoslav Government that Milosevic should be tried in this country. However, the Ministry of Justice (which is in charge of international legal cooperation) issued a statement that the existing obstacles which resulted from the Yugoslav regulations now in force could be removed by “passing a special law on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal”. Minister of police in the Government of FRY Zoran Zivkovic said that “nobody in Yugoslavia will hide and protect those guilty of war crimes”, although he refused to meet her demand that at least some of the indicted be extradited “as a sign of good will”.

She asked Zoran Djindjic who had in the meantime become the Prime Minister of Serbia, to do the same, but he answered that it would be “unrealistic”. Del Ponte's interlocutors informed the public that she had especially demanded extradition of the “Vukovar trio” – Mrksic, Radic and Sljivancanin – and the commander-in-chief of the army of Republika Srpska Ratko Mladic. Djindjic who is along with Kostunica at the moment the most important political figure in the country, also demanded that Milosevic be tried in Belgrade, first for corruption “because it is necessary to start from what is obvious towards what is less obvious”. He added that “as a citizen” he expects that Milosevic “will very soon be arrested”, and that the new Government of Serbia “has discrediting documentation on the crimes in Kosovo”, but that “it also remains to be seen” to what extent Milosevic is responsible for these crimes. Nevertheless – and this is the key issue – Djindjic stated in an interview to Beta agency that extradition of Milosevic to The Hague is not a price too high for becoming a part of Europe.

On the other hand, del Ponte made a certain effort to show that her approach was balanced. She talked to the families of the workers of Radio-Television Serbia killed in NATO bombing (she told them that Milosevic had known that the building would be bombed); to the representatives of the Union of the Kidnapped and Disappeared in Kosovo (she refused, however, to receive their documentation on about 1300 persons lost without a trace and advised them to submit it to the office of the Tribunal when it opens in Belgrade); to Ceda Maric, President of the Union of Families Disappeared Persons in Krajina (she promised that after five years exhumation would begin of Serb mass graves in Croatia).

All things considered, a period of increased pressure on FRY can now be expected when cooperation with The Hague is concerned. A few days ago the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe sent Yugoslavia a list of conditions for its becoming a member. Among them is a special chapter devoted to The Hague; Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly Russell Johnson appealed on Yugoslav authorities, especially President Kostunica, to meet international obligations immediately, adding that on the contrary there is a risk that disagreements between The Hague and Belgrade could turn into “a serious obstacle to continuation of the transition of Serbia”. Carla del Ponte herself reminded several times before and during the visit that the President of the Tribunal could inform the UN Security Council that FRY would not cooperate and then sanctions could be re-imposed.

As of April 1, the USA will link all aid to Yugoslavia to the cooperation with The Hague. By then George Bush must inform the Congress whether Yugoslavia cooperates with the Tribunal – or there will be no aid. Besides, lifting of the still enforced outer wall of sanctions America has imposed on the FRY after Dayton is, among other, connected with the establishment of the mentioned cooperation. It is quite certain that Vojislav Kostunica who is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos will be faced with the same question. Miroljub Labus, deputy Prime Minister of the federal government and its most important member announced his resignation in case the demand of the Tribunal for extradition of the indicted for war crimes is rejected. It still cannot be claimed with certainty how Yugoslav authorities will weigh all the reasons for and against cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, in other words how they will balance their mutual differences concerning this issue. There is no doubt, this is the first big test they will have to pass.

Roksanda Nincic

(AIM)