"Hague Tribunal should try all indictees"

The Hague Tribunal's position is that this court should continue work until all the war crimes indictees have been tried, a spokeswoman for the court says. Nerma Jelacic also told B92 TV that she would not comment on Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic's request to the tribunal for assistance in the organ trafficking case involving the kidnapped Kosovo Serbs as the victims. "Hague Tribunal should try all indictees" Jelacic only said that one of the UN court's priorities has always been to cooperate with the regional judicial institutions. As for the Hague Tribunal's mandate, she also claims that it has never been limited with a deadline for it to wrap up its activities. All the dates mentioned in public so far have only been approximate appraisals, Jelacic says. "Those were the projections that the tribunal made itself bearing in mind the cases that it had on its hands at that point, in other words, the accused that had already been arrested. Karadzic and Zupljanin were not under arrest at the time, and now Mladic and Hadzic are not arrested yet." "What the tribunal's officials, including the new president, Patrick Robinson, insist on, is that all those accused of war crimes by the tribunal must answer for those crimes, so that the tribunal's mandate can be fulfilled," the spokeswoman continued. Commenting on opinion polls that show most Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins and Macedonians saying that the tribunal is not contributing to the reconciliation in the region, but is instead only keeping the tensions alive, while Albanians and Muslims believe otherwise, Jelacic stressed that the court's primary objective is not reconciliation. "The tribunal's mandate was not to reconcile the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, but to criminally prosecute individuals who committed or were responsible for war crimes. The tribunal has conducted and finalized cases against individuals from all sides that were involved in the war," she said. Jelacic added that international institutions should not be expected to reconcile nations, but that this is individual responsibility of each person in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Brammertz report by end of November In The Hague, the tribunal's Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) spokeswoman Olga Kavran told Tanjug on Friday that Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz will complete and send his regular written report on cooperation of Serbia and other countries of the region with the tribunal to the UN Security Council by the end of November. Kavran said that the report would have to go through a technical procedure at the UN Security Council, after which Brammertz would present it orally at the UN Security Council session in New York in mid-December. Asked if Brammertz would have contacts with EU and international representatives regarding this report, she said that such contacts were customary. During his two-day visit to Belgrade on November 17-18, Brammertz met with top Serbian officials and members of the Action Team and discussed Serbia's cooperation with the Hague. A possible EU decision on the implementation of the provisional agreement and beginning of ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia will depend on the report on Serbia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.

"Hague Tribunal should try all indictees"

Jelačić only said that one of the UN court's priorities has always been to cooperate with the regional judicial institutions.

As for the Hague Tribunal's mandate, she also claims that it has never been limited with a deadline for it to wrap up its activities.

All the dates mentioned in public so far have only been approximate appraisals, Jelačić says.

"Those were the projections that the tribunal made itself bearing in mind the cases that it had on its hands at that point, in other words, the accused that had already been arrested. Karadžić and Župljanin were not under arrest at the time, and now Mladić and Hadžić are not arrested yet."

"What the tribunal's officials, including the new president, Patrick Robinson, insist on, is that all those accused of war crimes by the tribunal must answer for those crimes, so that the tribunal's mandate can be fulfilled," the spokeswoman continued.

Commenting on opinion polls that show most Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins and Macedonians saying that the tribunal is not contributing to the reconciliation in the region, but is instead only keeping the tensions alive, while Albanians and Muslims believe otherwise, Jelačić stressed that the court's primary objective is not reconciliation.

"The tribunal's mandate was not to reconcile the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, but to criminally prosecute individuals who committed or were responsible for war crimes. The tribunal has conducted and finalized cases against individuals from all sides that were involved in the war," she said.

Jelačić added that international institutions should not be expected to reconcile nations, but that this is individual responsibility of each person in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Brammertz report by end of November

In The Hague, the tribunal's Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) spokeswoman Olga Kavran told Tanjug on Friday that Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz will complete and send his regular written report on cooperation of Serbia and other countries of the region with the tribunal to the UN Security Council by the end of November.

Kavran said that the report would have to go through a technical procedure at the UN Security Council, after which Brammertz would present it orally at the UN Security Council session in New York in mid-December.

Asked if Brammertz would have contacts with EU and international representatives regarding this report, she said that such contacts were customary.

During his two-day visit to Belgrade on November 17-18, Brammertz met with top Serbian officials and members of the Action Team and discussed Serbia's cooperation with the Hague.

A possible EU decision on the implementation of the provisional agreement and beginning of ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia will depend on the report on Serbia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.