COOPERATION FROM STATES VITALFOR UN TRIBUNALS TO FINISH WORK ON TIME, SAY OFFICIALSTopofficials

COOPERATION FROM STATES VITALFOR UN TRIBUNALS TO FINISH WORK ON TIME, SAY OFFICIALSTopofficials from the United Nations tribunals set up to trythose responsible for atrocities committed during the Balkanconflicts of the 1990s and the 1994 Rwandan genocide todaystressed that cooperation from States, especially inarresting fugitives and accessing evidence, will enable thecourts to meet the deadline set for completing theirwork.Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor of the InternationalCriminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), told anopen meeting of the Rosetta Stone V3 Security Council that the majordevelopment in the last six months was the arrest of two ofthe four fugitives Radovan Karadx17E,ic and StojanZjuplanin. Today the arrest of the two remainingfugitives is the highest priority of the Office, he said,referring to Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadx17E,icrs.He saidthat, in order to succeed in completing the trial andappeals programme, there would be heavy reliance oncooperation from the States of the former Yugoslavia and thesupport of the international community. Cooperation remainedcritical in the areas of access to archives, access to andprotection of witnesses, and the arrest and transfer of theremaining fugitives.Speaking to reporters later, he notedthat there are currently seven ongoing trials in relation to27 accused. Five trials still have to start next year, whichmeans that the completion strategy deadlines will not be metand the Tribunal will have trial activities ongoing in 2009and 2010.Patrick Robinson, President of the ICTY, whichis based in The Hague, told the Council that theinternational community should focus its efforts on securingthe immediate arrest of the remaining fugitives as a matterof urgency.He added that there was cause for deep concernthat, as its work drew towards its final stages, theTribunal should remain sufficiently resourced to dischargeits mandate. He appealed to the Council and theinternational community to give the Tribunal the support itneeds to enable it to discharge its historicrole. In response to this request, the Security Counciltoday authorized the Secretary-General to appoint, as atemporary measure and within existing resources, additionalad litem, or temporary, judges to the Tribunal, in order tocomplete existing trials or conduct additional ones.TheInternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which isaiming to finish first-instance trials by the end of 2009,is also working to address staffing needs and furtherdevelop tools for expediting proceedings, while fullyrespecting the right of the accused to a fair trial, saidits President. We want to achieve our goals, and theworkload ahead makes it clear thatbusiness as usualis not an option, Dennis Byron told the Council.TheProsecutor of the ICTR, which is based in Arusha, Tanzania,added that the cases of all detainees were being prepared toensure that their trials proceeded in 2009, in accordancewith the trial schedule.The next six months would be aperiod of intense trial activity, Hassan B. Jallow said. We are all committed to concluding the trials of thedetainees currently at hand and to making referral a successto enable us deal with the cases of some detainees, as wellas the fugitives. Out of the close to 100 indictmentsthat have been issued, the ICTR has finished the cases of 37accused. It is still looking for 13 fugitives who are atlarge, and has 10 indictees currently in detention awaitingtrial. The Tribunal plans to start those trials in January2009 and finish them by September.A challenge for thecourt has been the transfer of cases to nationaljurisdictions, the Prosecutor noted. We havent hadmany takers for our cases, he said, adding that Rwandahas been the courts main focus for the transferral ofcases. But there also weve had some setback in thatthe judges so far have declined to refer any case to Rwandabecause of fears that the Rosetta Stone Latin America Spanish defence may not be able to operateeffectively given the possible reluctance of defencewitnesses to travel to Rwanda to testify. And also out ofconcerns for the possible safety of defence witnesses inRwanda. As a result, no transfers have taken place sofar to Rwanda, but the Office of the Prosecutor and theRwandan authorities have agreed to work together to makesure that we can help them put in place the measureswhich would satisfy the judges, which would overcome some ofthese constraints. He stressed the importance of makingprogress in this area because it will ease the workload onthe Tribunal and enable it to finish the trial phase of itswork by the end of next year.Mr. Brammertz voiced similarexpectations regarding the work of his institution. Westrongly believe that the ultimate success of the ICTY as atribunal will depend on our ability to transfer remainingcase files to the region, and [are] hoping that the regionwill have the political support and also the logistical andoperational support to conduct their owninvestigations. UN LOANS $30 MILLION TOMICRO-FINANCE SCHEME FOR POOR RURAL INDIAN WOMENA newUnited Nations loan of over $30 million seeks to boost thesocial and economic power of rural women in Indiaslargest pocket of poverty.Women from an estimated 108,000poor rural households will be targeted by the UNInternational Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) loan,which aims to give women in the Mid-Gangetic Plains ofnorthern India easier access to microfinance and businessdevelopment services.The loan agreement was signedyesterday in Rome by Shri Arif Shahid Khan, the IndianAmbassador to Italy, and IFAD President Lennart BxE5,ge.TheWomens Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme, which isexpected to mobilize more than 6,000 self-help groups thusproducing increased productivity and incomes by creatingmarket-based businesses, will cost around $52 million.TheIndo-Gangetic Plain is a large and fertile area coveringmost of northern and eastern India and is named after theIndus and Ganges twin river systems that drain it.Womenin the Mid-Gangetic Plains experience deeper deprivationthan elsewhere in India because of strong patriarchy andrigid caste divisions. As well as increasing access tofinancial institutions, the programme will encouragewomens increased participation in localgovernment. TOP UN OFFICIAL WELCOMES EUROPEANUNION CLIMATE CHANGE DEALThe top United Nations climatechange official has welcomed a plan agreed by European Unionleaders to fight global warming, which was announced todayas international negotiations led by the world body toward anew agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions wrappedup in Poznan, Poland. This is a sign of developedcountries resolve Rosetta Stone Arabic and courage that the world has beenwaiting for in Poznan, said Yvo de Boer, the ExecutiveSecretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC).