(The Hague, 9 June) Legal representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada,
Greece, and Norway met today for two and a half hours with the Chief
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia, Louise Arbour and three senior members of her legal staff in
The Hague. The lawyers presented what they believe to be compelling
evidence of war crimes committed by Nato in its bombing campaign against
Yugoslavia. Arbour welcomed the submissions and characterized the
discussion as useful. The lawyers said they were "extremely encouraged" by
the meeting.
The lawyers charged Nato leaders with grave violations of international
criminal law in causing civilian death, injury and destruction. They
underlined that ample evidence was available to justify prosecution of
individual Nato leaders and promised to continue providing the Prosecutor
with evidence to further substantiate the charges.
Appearing before the tribunal were Alexander Lykouzeros of Greece, André
Savik of Norway, Glen Rangwala of the United Kingdom, Alejandro Teitelbaum
of the American Association of Jurists and Professor Michael Mandel of
Canada. 'We told the Prosecutor that the tribunal's credibility was on the
line,' said Rangwala, who is an international lawyer from Trinity College,
Cambridge University. 'This is a historic opportunity to demonstrate the
even-handedness of international justice. A failure to indict Nato leaders
would be a severe blow to international law.'
Justice Arbour reaffirmed that Nato leaders were not immune from
prosecution, but added that the tribunal has a firm rule not to disclose
the existence or nature of its ongoing investigations.