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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