US eager to speed up work of criminal tribunals

The US government has called on the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia (ICTR and ICTY) to finish their work by 2007-2008. "We have [urged] and are urging both tribunals to begin to aggressively focus on the end-game and conclude their work by 2007-2008, AFP reported Pierre-Richard Prosper, the State Department's ambassador-at-large for war crimes, telling Congress on Thursday.

While acknowledging the tribunals' contribution to bringing justice to the victims of war crimes, Prosper cited a number of problems suffered by both the ICTR and the ICTY. "In both tribunals, at times, the professionalism of some of the personnel has been called into question with allegations of mismanagement and abuse," agencies quoted him saying.

"And in both tribunals, the process, at times, has been costly, has lacked efficiency, has been too slow, and has been too removed from the everyday experience of the people and the victims," agencies reported him saying.

In addition to criticising the tribunals prosecuting war crimes and genocide in the Balkans and Rwanda, Prosper said the administration was conducting a high-level review of how to implement its policy of opposition to the permanent International Criminal Court, which is less than 10 signatures away from ratification, Reuters reported.

Echoing arguments against the establishment of the ICC, being pushed for by human rights organisations, Prosper said the ICTR and ICTY "were not designed to completely usurp the authority and ... the responsibility of sovereign states", Reuters reported.

Some elements within the Republican Party were currently pressurising President George W. Bush to take the step of revoking the US signature, recorded by former President Bill Clinton, on the ICC treaty, agencies said.

The comments were greeted with dismay in the Hague, where the ICTY is currently trying Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serb leader accused of war crimes, the Financial Times (FT) said.

The FT quoted British government officials as expressing full support for the tribunals on Thursday. "The Yugoslav tribunals have done an excellent job. We know there have been problems over Rwanda, but reforms are in place that are improving its operation," the FT quoted a Foreign Office spokeswoman saying.

The ICTR and ICTY were establihsed by the UN Security Council in 1994 to bring justice to perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The tribunals are viewed by their supporters as heralding a new era of accountability for violations of international humanitarian law, and forerunners of the ICC.

The US, the single largest donor to the tribunals, donated US $20.2 million to the ICTR and US $22.6 million to the ICTY in 2001.