//REPEATING//RIGHTS: U.N. Fails to Persuade Yugoslavia to Handover Milosevic

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Jan 26 2001 (IPS) - Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), left Belgrade with only mild promises on cooperation, without much hope that her mission has been embraced by Yugoslavia.

“I leave Belgrade with mixed feelings”, del Ponte told Serbian journalists on Thursday, at the only press conference she held during her three-day visit.

“My meetings were not always easy and it is obvious that there are misunderstandings on both sides”, she added.

Many Serbs believe that ICTY, established by the UN in 1993, is a biased, anti-Serb institution. Del Ponte came to Belgrade to ask the new authorities to hand the former Serbian strongman, Slobodan Milosevic, over to the tribunal.

She admitted that she did not receive any guarantees about Milosevic’s handover. Instead, she was told that Milosevic would be tried in Serbia for crimes against his own nation in the past decade, which range from abuses of funds to economic destruction through wrong policies.

“We (ICTY) are the first who must have Milosevic on trial. We are ready for that”, del Ponte said. “We can not wait for another 10 years, while Serbia prepares to holds trial here”.

This is Del Ponte’s first visit to Belgrade since ICTY was established. In 1993, Milosevic was singled out as the man who started the wars, which led to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, where mass atrocities were allegedly committed against non-Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia.

Since 1999, Milosevic has formally been an inductee of ICTY for the atrocities his regime committed against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Del Ponte met Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, Justice Minister Momcilo Grubac and several Serbian government officials during her visit to Belgrade.

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) is made up of Serbia and Montenegro. On both federal and Serbian level changes of regime came after September and December elections, that saw Milosevic and his Socialist Party fall from power.

Despite an earlier official statement by the new government to cooperate with the ICTY, the only promise del Ponte got was the opening of an ICTY office in Belgrade.

In her words, many officials quoted obstacles in the Yugoslav justice system as preventing them from handing over Milosevic and other inductees. According to Yugoslavia’s constitution, no Yugoslav can be extradited to a foreign country, officials said.

The new government still views the ICTY as a political instrument, with a discriminatory aim to judge only war crimes allegedly committed by Serbs. Dozens of Serbs, as well as Croats and Bosnians, are being tried by the ICTY in The Hague, The Netherlands.

“Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is strongly against the selective approach of the ICTY towards crimes committed in former Yugoslavia”, said a statement released after talks between president Kostunica and del Ponte.

“It (ICTY) introduces collective guilt upon one nation only”, the statement added.

Del Ponte’s visit had also enraged many Serbs in Belgrade. Pro- Milosevic groups organised protests in front of the buildings where del Ponte met government officials. Hundreds of protesters chanted “We won’t give you Slobo”.

Analysts fear that ICTY demand could endanger the new authorities, or even destabilise the country, where many still sympathise with Milosevic.

Belgrade analyst Bratislav Grubacic told IPS that it is “too early (for ICTY) to quickly press for extradition of war criminals”.

“It (extradition) is still a very sensitive political, legal, moral and emotional issue for many Serbs,” he said. “It will take some time for people to realise what was done in their name during the 90s, as many simply believed in what Milosevic said – Serbs all over former Yugoslavia were only defending themselves from being exterminated by the others. Besides, he could become a martyr in the eyes of many if he was to be flown to The Hague immediately”.

Zarko Trebjesanin, Belgrade University professor, does not share such a view. “Obviously, because of its own guilt, the former regime refused to discuss the issue of war crimes”, he told IPS.

Some say a trial against Milosevic should first be held in Belgrade. “Then when the evidence against him arises on many things he did, ways can be found to hand him over to the Tribunal. In the course, Serbs could learn what was done in their name all over the former Yugoslavia”, Belgrade lawyer Nikola Barovic said.

A recent survey shows that some Serbs are willing to get rid of Milosevic. Out of 1,040 people surveyed by the respected Medium Agency, 57 per cent want Milosevic extradited to the ICTY. Some 35 per cent say they would hand him over unconditionally, while 22 per cent say they would give him up only if the West threatens Yugoslavia with new sanctions. Some 43 per cent are, however, strongly against handing Milosevic over.