Judge Theodor-Meron. The Appeals Chamber of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals hears oral arguments in the Šešelj case The Hague, 13 December 2017- The Appeals Chamber of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, composed of Judge Theodor Meron, presiding, Judge Lee G. Muthoga, Judge Florence Rita Arrey, Judge Ben Emmerson, and Judge Ivo Nelson de Caires Batista Rosa heard today oral arguments in the appeal filed by the Prosecution against the judgement of acquittal in the case of Mr. Vojislav Šešelj, rendered on 31 March 2016 by Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). In February 1991, Mr. Šešelj was appointed President of the Serbian Radical Party and, in June 1991, he was elected a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. At trial, the Prosecution charged Mr. Šešelj with persecution, deportation, and inhumane acts (forcible transfer) as crimes against humanity, as well as murder, torture, cruel treatment, wanton destruction of villages, destruction or wilful damage of institutions dedicated to religion or education, and plunder of public and private property as violations of the laws or customs of war. The Prosecution alleged that Mr. Šešelj planned, ordered, instigated, committed, or otherwise aided and abetted these crimes. It further alleged that he participated in these crimes between August 1991 and September 1993 by way of a joint criminal enterprise, the common purpose of which was the permanent and forcible removal, through the commission of crimes, of a majority of the Croatian, Bosnian Muslim and other non-Serbian populations from approximately one-third of the territory of Croatia and large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Vojvodina, in Serbia, in order to make these areas a new Serbian-dominated state. The Trial Chamber, by a majority, Judge Lattanzi dissenting, acquitted Mr. Šešelj of all charges. The Prosecution argued that the Trial Chamber erred in law by failing to deliver a reasoned opinion and erred in fact by acquitting Mr. Šešelj. It requested that the Appeals Chamber revise the Trial Judgement to find Mr. Šešelj guilty as charged and sentence him accordingly, or, alternatively, order a retrial. In his Response Brief filed before the hearing, Mr. Šešelj argued that the Prosecution appeal should be dismissed in its entirety. Mr. Šešelj – who has elected to represent himself – was not present at the appeal hearing. In his Response Brief filed before the hearing, Mr. Šešelj indicated that he had no intention of participating in the appeal hearing. In September 2017, the Appeals Chamber gave Mr. Šešelj an opportunity to reconsider his position and warned him that it would instruct the Registrar to assign a standby counsel to represent his procedural interests if he maintained his position not to attend the hearing. Mr. Šešelj did not respond to the invitation to reconsider his position. As a result, Ms. Colleen Rohan was assigned as standby counsel and was present at the appeal hearing to protect his procedural interests. Mr. Šešelj has been given an opportunity to respond to the Prosecution’s oral submissions within 10 days of receiving the B/C/S version of the transcript of the appeal hearing.

Arusha, The Hague, 12 December 2017 – Prosecutor Serge Brammertz of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) spoke today at the briefing entitled “The International Tribunal and Beyond: Pursuing Justice for Atrocities in the Western Balkans” organized by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC).

The aim of the briefing was to assess the Tribunal’s achievements and limitations and what still needs to be done by the countries of the region to seek justice in outstanding cases, bring greater closure to victims and foster greater reconciliation among peoples.

The other panelists were Nemanja Stjepanović, Member of the Executive Board of the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade and Diane Orentlicher, Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American University. The briefing was opened by U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and member of the Helsinki Commission, and moderated by Robert Hand, Policy Advisor of the Helsinki Commission. U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, member of the TLHRC, also attended the briefing and made remarks.

Prosecutor Brammertz stated that “in large measure, the ICTY has achieved what it set out to do”, and added: “In accordance with universally-recognized principles of law, we independently and impartially investigated the crimes, prosecuted senior leaders from all parties to the conflict and held them individually responsible for their crimes against the victims and indeed all of humanity”.

Speaking about the crucial role of the international community – the United States and the European Union in particular – in setting up and supporting the work of the Tribunal through conditionality policy, Prosecutor Brammertz said: “The lesson is clear: if there is a clear political agenda in support of justice, and if the international community speaks with one voice, those most responsible for atrocity crimes can be held accountable”. Speaking about the importance of the ICTY’s legacy for future justice efforts, Prosecutor Brammertz said that the ICTY will continue to be a “symbol of justice to other victims and survivors”. The Prosecutor added that the ICTY greatly developed the law and practices needed to bring war criminals to justice, emphasizing his Office’s work in documenting the lessons learned from prosecuting rape, sexual enslavement, torture and other crimes of sexual violence in more than 50 cases. Turning to his Office’s support to national judiciaries in the region of the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor Brammertz noted, “If international tribunals focus on those most responsible for the crimes, there will need to be national courts to bring other perpetrators to justice in order to avoid significant impunity gaps”, and added that, “in the future, collaboration and intense cooperation between the international and national should be the rule, not the exception”. Finally, Prosecutor Brammertz said that the completion of the Tribunal’s mandate is not the end of war crimes justice, but the beginning of the next chapter, as further accountability for the crimes now depends fully on national judiciaries in the former Yugoslavia.

He stressed that national judiciaries will need more support as “accountability for atrocity crimes in the national courts of the former Yugoslavia faces many challenges, with negative trends often overshadowing the positive”. Noting that reconciliation has not yet been achieved and remains a significant challenge, the Prosecutor concluded that the ICTY’s legacy would not be measured by its own work but by “whether the countries of the former Yugoslavia build the rule of law, demonstrate they can secure meaningful justice for the victims, and show the courage to accept the facts and pursue meaningful reconciliation”.