Statement
by
H. E. Dr. Miomir Žužul
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia
Security Council
International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons
Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991
23 November 2004
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank the President of the Tribunal, as well as the Chief Prosecutor, for their annual reports on the work the ICTY has accomplished in the past year. I will outline Croatia´s position on this issue as well as explain what we have achieved thus far in our cooperation with the Tribunal.
Allow me to stress the point that Croatia was one of the leading proponents for establishing the Hague Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. We have held from the very beginning that the prosecution of war crimes is fundamental to establishing a lasting peace in our part of Europe. Croatia also believes that bringing the perpetrators of war crimes to justice is a precondition for confidence-building in the region. I think there is full agreement on these points.
I do, however, wish to make a few brief remarks on the general political circumstances which surrounded the key events in the 1990´s. They are directly relevant to the outstanding issues which still exist today. First of all, I must reiterate that Croatia was attacked and subsequently partly occupied by the invading Yugoslav Army which was firmly under the control of Slobodan Miloševic.
The fact that this aggression was conducted within the internationally recognized borders and on the territory of the Republic of Croatia has been reflected in a large number of General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions(815, 871, 947, 981, 1023). Let me quote just one resolution - the General Assembly Resolution (49/43 of December 9, 1994, at the time when Croatia was still trying to find a peaceful and negotiated solution:
"The General Assembly, (is) Stressing the importance of efforts to restore peace in the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia as well as to preserve its territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders, and emphasizing in this regard that the territories comprising the United Nations Protected Areas are integral parts of the territory of the Republic of Croatia,
Alarmed and concerned by the fact that the ongoing situation in the Serbian-controlled parts of Croatia is de facto allowing and promoting a state of occupation of parts of the sovereign Croatian territory, and thus seriously jeopardizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia."
Our people did not want a bloody conflict on Croatian territory, but were confronted with armed aggression which had to be resisted and our government had the solemn duty to protect its citizens.
The second point I would like to make is that the Croatian Government invested great efforts in reaching a peaceful solution with the local Serb authorities. I know this first hand as I personally participated in negotiations during this period. In hindsight, I feel more than confident stating that Croatia exerted great restraint and demonstrated real patience in searching for a negotiated settlement. In the end, we had no choice but to liberate our occupied territory by military force. The former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith, in testimony given during the Miloševic trial, openly blamed the local Serb authorities for rejecting a negotiated settlement.
In order to fully understand Croatia´s decision to take military action, one must take into account the situation in neighboring Bosnia&Hercegovina which was, in fact, at the time quickly deteriorating. I will remind you that in the summer of 1995 the Serbs had occupied the UN-protected enclaves of Žepa and Srebrenica and were attacking Goražde. Following the brutal massacre at Srebrenica, it was clear that decisive military action was the only way to counter the Serb onslaught and the world simply could not allow Bihac to fall into the hands of Ratko Mladic.
I am making these points in order to emphasize once again the legitimacy of Croatia´s decisions at the time. I think it is of central importance that we today, but also future generations, have a clear understanding of the events I have briefly described. The past must not be forgotten and, more importantly, it must be properly assessed and understood.
However, the fact remains that crimes were committed and justice demands that the perpetrators be properly punished. My government insists on the individualization of responsibility for the criminal acts which have been committed. We understand that the ICTY has a central role in prosecuting these crimes and this is precisely why we strongly supported the establishment of the Tribunal from the very beginning. Croatia views cooperation generally as a matter of enforcing the rule of law; and more specifically as a matter of implementing the relevant Security Council resolutions, the Statute of the ICTY and our own constitutional law which mandates compliance with all Tribunal requests.
Now I would like to address the current state of affairs in our cooperation with the ICTY. The facts clearly indicate that the Croatian Government has been fulfilling its commitment to comply with the requests of the Tribunal. In March of this year, Croatia extradited two of its generals, generals Markac and Cermak, to stand trial in The Hague. We also secured the handover of six indicted Bosnian Croats who subsequently appeared before the Tribunal and are now waiting for their trials to begin. Most recently the Bosnian Croat indictee Miroslav Bralo surrendered himself to the ICTY authorities.
Croatia´s position has been clear and unequivocal: Our citizens are all obliged to full cooperation with the Tribunal. This includes General Gotovina who remains at large. On this point I want to stress that my government is in no way evading its own responsibility and we have, in fact, repeatedly appealed to General Gotovina to appear before the court.
Prime Minister Sanader recently stated once again that The Hague is the only location where one´s guilt or innocence can be established. I want to re-emphasize the point that this is the only outstanding issue that exists between Croatia and the ICTY.
Both President Meron and the Chief Prosecutor stated that Croatia´s cooperation with the Tribunal is good, and that case of General Gotovina remains the only obstacle to our full cooperation with the ICTY. On behalf of the Croatian Government allow me to once again express our commitment to fully cooperate with the ICTY authorities, as well as the international community, in resolving this remaining issue.
We are determined to fulfill our responsibilities as a mature democracy and will continue to insist that every citizen without exception comply with the country´s laws. In the end, those who are found guilty must be punished regardless of their ethnic background.
Croatia is investing great efforts in preparing its national courts to assume cases involving war crimes. I am especially pleased that President Meron has recognized the efforts we have made in that regard. This process has been developing in close cooperation with the ICTY and is designed to prepare judiciary officials to prosecute war-crime cases in a professional and unbiased manner. It is not widely known that since 1992 the Croatian judiciary has independently conducted nearly 1500 (exactly 1491) war crime cases. The case involving Croatian General Mirko Norac, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison, demonstrated that our courts were able to act both professionally and in an unbiased manner.
Croatia fully supports the Tribunal´s Completion Strategy as outlined in Security Council Resolutions 1503 and 1534. We understand that this is a priority of the Security Council and are ready to contribute to expediting the ICTY´s work. The referral of cases to competent national judiciaries is one of the pillars of the Completion Strategy. The Croatian Ministry of Justice is conducting a program with the generous support of the Royal Dutch Government that is designed to train legal experts in prosecuting war-crime cases. Most recently a working session was held on October 29-30 in cooperation with the ICTY Registry.
Croatia now feels prepared to assume part of the Tribunal´s work and will continue to pursue a dialogue with the ICTY on this issue, as well as cooperate in the field of training and technical assistance. In cases that have already been conducted, evidentiary material obtained by ICTY was used by Croatian national courts. We are pleased with the cooperation we have established with the Office of the Prosecutor and intend to intensify our regular communication with the Hague authorities.
Mr. President,
It has been stated on many occasions that the Tribunal must perform the role of enforcer of justice and protector of memory. We must ensure that future generations will be able to distinguish between victim and aggressor, but also between the right of a nation to self-defense and the individual crimes that may have been committed. As I stated earlier, those found guilty must be punished, regardless of ethnic background.
We also have an obligation to resolve the most difficult issues from our past. No nation can expect to build a better future, if it is not capable of assuming responsibility for its own actions. I assure you that Croatia is ready to do its part and this is why we are a credible candidate for EU membership.
In conclusion, let me reiterate that Croatia is fully aware of the importance of cooperation with the ICTY and we will continue to fulfill our obligations to the best of our ability.
Thank You.
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