16 June 2003
U.S. Expects Serbia and Montenegro to Cooperate with ICTY
(Boucher renews call for arrest of indictees) (410) The State Department is urging Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia to fully meet their obligations to arrest and transfer all indictees to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The United States welcomes efforts by Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia to improve cooperation with the ICTY, but "expects further actions to be taken" in order to meet their international obligations, said State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher. The United States is making this point even though the Secretary of State has certified that Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia have met the criteria of Section 578 and 576, respectively, of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Act. The act provides for restrictions on U.S. assistance unless the Secretary certifies that the authorities of Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia are taking certain actions with respect to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and other requirements. Following is Boucher's statement: (begin text) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman June 16, 2003 Statement By Richard Boucher, Spokesman CERTIFICATION OF SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO Secretary of State Colin L. Powell determined and certified that Serbia and Montenegro had met the criteria of Section 578 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Act, Division E of the Consolidated Appropriation Resolution, 2003. The Secretary has also determined that the competent authorities of Serbia had simultaneously met the criteria related to the termination of restrictions imposed by Section 576 of the same Act. The Secretary has conveyed his decisions to Congress as called for in the legislation. We welcome the recent actions by Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia to improve cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. However, the Secretary's decisions are not an indication that we believe that Serbia and Montenegro has fully met its obligation to arrest and transfer all indictees to the Tribunal. We have made clear to Union and Republic authorities in Belgrade that they have an international obligation to fully cooperate with the Tribunal, and that the United States expects further actions to be taken in order to meet those obligations. We continue to call on all states of the region to cooperate fully with the Tribunal, including by arresting and transferring Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. (end text) (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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