Seven Questions: A War Criminal’s Worst Nightmare

TK/AFP/Getty ImagesTruth and consequences: Carla del Ponte is not a woman to be trifled with.

FOREIGN POLICY: In the wake of the arrest of Zdravko Tolimir, one of the most wanted suspected war criminals in Serbia, you have suggested that the Serbian government may be on the brink of arresting and handing over many of the still-at-large suspects, including the notorious Gen. Ratko Mladic. What is behind this change of course for Serbia?

Carla del Ponte: I was in Serbia all last week on an official working visit. I had meetings with President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, and numerous other government officials, as well as representatives of the various services involved in the operational aspect of cooperation with the [International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)]. They all reiterated the same thingthat full cooperation with the Tribunal is one of the top priorities of the new government. I believe that this change of course happened as a direct result of the pressure of the international community and especially of the European Union for Serbia to fulfill its international obligations. Full cooperation is one such obligation, and it includes the arrest and transfer of all the remaining fugitives, primarily Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. Now that there appears to be genuine political will, I believe they will find a way to do it.

FP: Now that Tolimir has been arrested, five men continue to elude the war crimes tribunal: Mladic, Radovan Karadzic, Stojan Zupljanin, Goran Hadzic, and Vlastimir Djordjevic. How would the arrest of these last few war criminals affect Serbias relations with the EU, and its prospects for joining?

CdP: In its latest statement, as well as all the previous ones, the European Union has reiterated that full cooperation is a requirement for completion of the negotiations on accession. However, this is a political decision by a political entity. I am a prosecutor and, as such, I am only interested in obtaining the fugitives and all other aspects of full cooperationaccess to documents, access to witnesses, etc.

FP: When can we expect the arrest of these men? Does Serbia have the will and the ability to bring them in before you step down in September?

CdP: I hope we can expect them soon. I believe what I have always believed: The Serbian authorities are technically perfectly capable of arresting these fugitives. It has always been only a question of political will, in my opinion. Now that that element appears to be satisfied, I think it is only a matter of time before these fugitives are arrested and transferred. Due to the completion strategy of the Tribunal and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council indicating that the ICTY should close its doors by the end of 2010, it is imperative that these fugitives be brought to justice without any further delay. Mladic and Karadzic, both believed to be the architects of the Srebrenica genocide, have been at large for over 12 years now. This is unacceptable, and they must be caught and brought before the ICTY.

FP: After former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic died in prison before the conclusion of his trial for war crimes, you said that his death had deprived his victims of justice. How did his death affect the reconciliation process in Serbia?

CdP: In my view, his death means that he escaped justice. I believe that justice is a very important element of any reconciliation process. However, one must not lose sight of other facts: During the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, we presented a huge amount of very important evidence. This evidence is part of the public record and, as such, can form the basis for much analysis and discussion of the events that occurred. Also, there are a number of people on trial for their involvement in very similar crimes. For exampleon Tuesday, the Trial Chamber handed down a 35-year prison sentence to Milan Martic, a Croatian Serb political leader accused of crimes committed against Croats and other non-Serbs in parts of Croatia. The judgment said, among other things, that Milan Martic participated in a joint criminal enterprise together with Slobodan Milosevic, Milan Babic, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, Jovica Stanisic, Franko Simatovic, and others, and that the common purpose on this joint criminal enterprise was the forcible removal of a majority of the Croat, Muslim, and other non-Serb population from approximately one third of the territory of Croatia and large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to make them part of a new Serb-dominated state. So, other judgments will also contribute elements on the basis of which the whole story can be told. And this, I believe, will assist reconciliation in the long term.

FP: What will it mean for Serbia if its government fails to hand over the suspected war criminals to the Tribunal?

CdP: Serbia is already the only state to have been found in violation of the Genocide Convention. It will remain in violation of that important legal instrument as well as the Statute of the ICTY and numerous Security Council resolutions until it arrests and transfers Ratko Mladic and the remaining fugitives to the Tribunal.

FP: In light of the well-known opposition of the U.S. government to international courts, has Washington been supportive of your work at The Hague?

CdP: Yes, we have had consistent support from the United States as well as many other states, international organizations, NGOs, individuals. Without this support, we would have never been able to achieve our results. The prosecutors office has secured the first genocide convictions since World War II, has established beyond reasonable doubt that rape was used as an instrument of terror and should be considered a crime against humanity, has established that the crimes against civilians during the siege of Sarajevo merit the highest sentence, and many other very important facts about the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and the individual responsibility of those convicted. All of that would not have been possible without outside support.

FP: Youve survived a Cosa Nostra assassination attempt, faced organized crime in Russia, and tackled the genocidaires of Rwanda and Yugoslavia. Whats next?

CdP: I dont know yet. I still have a lot to do here at the ICTY before I leave in September. There are still five fugitives, and I intend to do everything I can to have them in custody before my departure.

Carla del Ponte is chief prosecutor for the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

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