Statement by by Philip Parham, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations

Thank you Mr President.

First, let me congratulate you on your assumption of the Presidency of the Council this month and say how much we look forward to working with you and your Mission and assure you of our support, and I would like also to thank Ambassador Churkin and his Mission for their skilful chairmanship of the Council last month.

I welcome President Byron and President Robinson and Prosecutor Jallow and Prosecutor Brammertz to the Council and thank them for their reports on the implementation of the completion strategies of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

These reports indicate that the work of the two Tribunals is not now likely to finish until 2013 at the earliest.  My Government appreciates that both Tribunals continue to face significant challenges in completing their work:  some indictees have been arrested at a late stage;  both Tribunals still have heavy caseloads, including complex multi-accused cases;  trials have been delayed due to the ill-health of some accused;  and there have been a large number of contempt cases.  These are just some of the issues being faced.  Nevertheless, the slippage in the completion time-line is of concern.

My Government acknowledges the efforts which have been made so far by the Principals of the Tribunals and their staff to facilitate completion, but we emphasise that it is vital that both Tribunals continue to do everything possible to minimise further delays, in a manner consistent with delivering fair trials for all the accused, including by  exploring and implementing further efficiency measures.  We hope that the Tribunals will continue to maximise the use of available judicial time and courtroom space.  At the same time, we believe that it is important for the Security Council to support the Tribunals and to take the necessary decisions to allow them to complete their work, including by granting appropriate extensions to judges' mandates and allowing the redeployment of judicial staff to the appeal chamber.

We recognise the two Presidents' continuing concerns about staff retention as the Tribunals near completion.  These issues are not primarily matters for the Security Council.  However, we would encourage the Tribunals to explore non-monetary incentives to retain staff, particularly awarding contracts in line with completion time-scales, as decided by the General Assembly.

Mr President,

Full and effective cooperation from States is critical to ensuring that the Tribunals are able to fulfil their mandates.  My Government warmly welcomes Prosecutor Brammertz's report of improved cooperation by Serbia on access to documents and in operational level efforts to locate the fugitive indictees Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic.  Overall, my Government believes that Serbia has now established a strong record of cooperation, which should be recognised.  So we regret that this record has on two recent occasions been undermined by contradictory public messages from Serbia, accusing the Tribunal of bias.  We hope that the Serbian authorities will in future avoid such remarks, which could otherwise negatively affect the willingness of Serbian citizens to assist the Tribunal as witnesses or by providing other information.

My Government is disappointed, however, that Croatia has still not been able to deliver a range of key documents for the Gotovina trial.  We fully support the Prosecutor's efforts to pursue this issue.  We call on Croatia to maintain the search for missing documents and for their administrative investigation to be backed up by criminal charges where there is evidence of illegal removal or destruction of documents.  This remains an area where further work is needed against a background of otherwise solid cooperation.

As regards cooperation with the ICTR, we note with concern Prosecutor Jallow's oral report that problems of cooperation with Kenya remain unresolved.  It is vital that all States where fugitive indictees are suspected to be at large, particularly Kenya and DRC, provide full and immediate cooperation to facilitate their arrest and surrender to the Tribunal.  Those who have committed serious crimes in Rwanda must face justice.  

Mr President,

The two Tribunals have made an enormous contribution to restoring peace and security in their regions through combating impunity for the most serious crimes.  Their legacy must be preserved after the Tribunals close their doors.  A key element of this will be the establishment of an effective and sustainable Residual Mechanism to carry out core residual functions, including prosecution of remaining fugitive indictees.  We look forward to intensifying our discussion of these issues, in light of the forthcoming Secretary-General's report, with a view to reaching agreement this year on the Residual Mechanism's structure and remit.

Thank you Mr President.

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