http://www.euronews.net/
I-talk host Alex Taylor asks: "Since the Second World War, justice has
become an international affair, war criminals are tried for crimes not
only against their victims, but also for crimes against humanity. But
are the cases that bring these criminals to justice effective? And are
they really objective? Your questions today to Serge Brammertz,
Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia who joins us from The Hague."
'Mr Brammertz, hello, thank you for joining us. So you are ready to respond to questions from viewers of euronews?"
Serge Brammertz: "Hello"
Alex Taylor: "First question on I-talk to Serge Brammertz."
"Hello,
my name is Miriam. I'm from Belgium. Do you have the legal right to
judge all criminals throughout the world? Who has the power to ask you
to intervene?"
Serge Brammertz: "Yes the Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia has jurisdiction limited to the territories of the countries
of the former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal was established in 1993 by the
Security Council to prosecute and try those responsible for crimes of
genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the
territories of the former Yugoslavia."
Alex Taylor: "Who can ask you to intervene an individual, a State?"
Serge
Brammertz: "No, actually, as this court is an offshoot of the Security
Council, theoretically, there is an obligation for all UN member
countries to cooperate with our Tribunal, but at the point of referral.
It is the prosecutors office which opens the investigation and who
decides which files go before the judges and which ones are transferred
to national courts."
Alex Taylor: "Ok, the second question from Brussels to The Hague."
"Hello
Mr. Brammertz. My name is Florence, I am Belgian and I live in
Brussels. My question for you is this: Is the tribunal really
independent since it is partly funded by NATO how do you prevent it from
coming under pressure from NATO?
Alex Taylor: "Are you focusing too much on the interests of the West, there has been criticism in the past."
Serge
Brammertz: "Well, it is certainly not correct to say that we are funded
by NATO. We are a creation of the Security Council, so it's the UN
budget that funds the Tribunal, a budget which is discussed and decided
every two years. Can it be objective in its work? Certainly.You know, we
have lawyers, judges, investigators, analysts from 65 countries and all
or mostly all come from the courts and national authorities and they
are professionals who work independently and impartially."
Alex Taylor: "Who do you nominate for example?"
Serge Brammertz: "The attorney is appointed by the Security Council on the proposal of UN Secretary-General."
Alex Taylor: "Ok a third question for Serge Brammertz at the Hague."
"Hello,
my name is Laurie and I am French. I want to know if the Tribunal could
judge the U.S.military for crimes they have committed in Afghanistan,in
Iraq, or widen your brief to include for instance, President Bush who
decided to invade countries without the backing of strong evidence?"
Alex Taylor: "It's question not unlike the first two."
Serge
Brammertz: "Yes, as I said at the beginning, in fact, the Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia has a very limited jurisdiction, namely in
relation to crimes committed on the territories of the countries of the
former Yugoslavia. In The Hague there is also the International Criminal
Court, a permanent court that obviously has a much broader jurisdiction
and is responsible for crimes committed in the territories of countries
that have ratified the Rome Statute that created the International
Criminal Court, or which are responsible for the records that were
transferred, referred by the Security Council to this international
court. That has been the case notably for Sudan and Libya."
Alex Taylor: "Another question now. Do you believe that Croatia has done enough in solving crimes committed to Serbian People?"
Serge
Brammertz:"Well, I would say generally that it is very important that
in the coming years, both in Croatia but also in Serbia and Bosnia, more
investigations are conducted at national level. I'd say it's the
challenge for the coming years. There are hundreds or thousands of files
waiting to be investigated and prosecuted and it will be the biggest
challenge and this applies particularly to crimes committed in Croatia
and of course also includes crimes committed against Serbs, whether in
Croatia or in other countries."
Alex Taylor: "But the Serbs clearly feel that these trials are always against them."
