Mr President,
Allow me to thank the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Patrick Robinson, the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Judge Rachida Khan for their briefings. We also express our gratitude to the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Mr Serge Brammertz and the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Mr Hassan Jallow for their interventions.
We have taken note of the progress made by the two Tribunals to complete the cases before them. We are encouraged by the efforts that the Tribunals have made to ensure completion of their work in time for the start of the Residual Mechanism.
Mr President,
In the course of this month, the General Assembly will be electing the 35 members of the Residual Mechanism. This should remind us of the urgency of bringing the remaining cases to a close as soon as possible.
We strongly support the need to provide sufficient resources to the Tribunals to assist them in completing their work. We recognise the difficulty of retaining staff as the Tribunals begin to wind down their work and staff search for stable employment elsewhere. We therefore remain committed to exploring innovative ways to retain competent staff members, including thorough incentives as appropriate.
Mr President,
One important way to assist the Tribunals in completing their work is through referral of cases to relevant and appropriate domestic jurisdictions. We have thus taken note of the applications to refer cases in Rwanda as well as the decision of the ICTY to refer a number of cases involving low and mid-level accused to national courts in the regions.
Mr President,
My delegation remains concerned about the unwillingness of Member States to enter into agreements with the ICTR for the transfer of individuals who have either served their sentences or have been found not guilty. We urge Member States, particularly those in the immediate region and those where the family members of the individuals are located to consider reaching such agreements with the Tribunals.
We welcome the report that in July 2011, one convicted person was transferred from Arusha to a Member State. We also express our appreciation to the Government of Tanzania for its willingness to provide facilities in the interim, in particular the provision of safe-houses.
South Africa stresses the importance of cooperation with the Tribunals in accordance with the respective Statutes, in particular Articles 28 of the Statute of ICTR and 29 of the ICTY, and the relevant Security Council resolutions. We stress, especially, the obligation to cooperate with the Tribunals in effecting the arrests of those wanted.
This year, we have seen substantial progress in this regard with the arrest of key indictees, Bernard Munyagishari, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. We urge Member States to step up efforts to locate, capture and ultimately surrender the remaining nine fugitives to the ICTR.
Mr President,
Finally, Mr President, we wish to register our appreciation at the cooperation between the ICTR, ICTY and the Office for Legal Affairs in doing the necessary work in preparation for the Residual Mechanism, including through the preparation of a joint budget and also the work on the Rules of Procedure.
I thank you.
Statement by the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development of the Republic of South Africa, Andries Carl Nel, to the United Nations Security Council on the Report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and
