DATE=1/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NATO / WAR CRIMES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258207
BYLINE=RON PEMSTEIN
DATELINE=BRUSSELS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The prosecutor of the International War Crimes
Tribunal has appealed to NATO ambassadors to let
alliance troops be more aggressive in capturing
indicted suspects in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Correspondent Ron Pemstein reports from Brussels that
NATO is capturing suspects, but important persons
remain at large.
TEXT: NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia have captured 17-
suspects and transported them for trials in The Hague.
The prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, thanked NATO
ambassadors for the efforts their troops have been
making. At the same time she notes that indicted
suspects remain free, including the former Bosnian
Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic.
/// DEL PONTE ACT ///
We have too many fugitives and the failure to
take him into custody, him, the most important
wanted, Karadzic. So failure to take him into
custody and all the other ones, and they are
more than 30-persons who are still fugitives,
taking him and the others into custody, and
failure to bring other important leaders to
trial, remains a serious obstacle to any lasting
peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Let us make
justice to have peace done.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Karadzic is heavily protected in the Bosnian Serb
Republic in an area patrolled by French NATO troops.
French units have been less active than British forces
have been in apprehending suspected war criminals in
their zones. Mr. Karadzic remains a powerful
influence among politicians that reject the Bosnia
peace agreement.
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson notes that
three indicted suspects have been captured in five-
months since he took office. He also warns that those
suspects still at large can face the same fate as the
Serbian militia leader Arkan, if they fail to turn
themselves into the War Crimes tribunal.
/// ROBERTSON ACT ///
The 17 who have been arrested by S-FOR and I-FOR
troops are awaiting trial. The fact that they
were arrested has persuaded a number of others
that they should volunteer themselves to go to
the Hague, and it may well be that the violent
death of Arkan, who was indicted by the
Tribunal, may encourage others to seek civilized
justice in the Hague rather than waiting for
some other form of arbitrary justice to be meted
out to them. There is no hiding place for those
that have been indicted.
/// END ACT ///
Arkan was wanted for the activities of his militia
group during wars in Croatia and Bosnia. Ms. Del
Ponte says despite the killing of Arkan last Saturday,
she continues her investigation into his "Tiger"
militia's activities in Kosovo. For that reason,
Arkan's file remains sealed.
The prosecutor briefed the NATO Ambassadors on her
office's plans for this year. The War Crimes Tribunal
plans to open more than 300 mass graves in Kosovo when
the ground thaws in the spring. NATO forces in Kosovo
protect the sites of these suspected graves. Ms. Del
Ponte says more than 28-hundred bodies have been
exhumed, but she says that is only a partial count
because so many bodies were burned or simply
disappeared. (SIGNED)
NEB/RP/GE/RAE
19-Jan-2000 11:04 AM EDT (19-Jan-2000 1604 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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