Serbia's hunt for Mladic still 'problematic,' draft UN report says

Nov 23, 2010, 18:12 GMT

The Hague - Serbia is still not doing enough to track down genocide indictee Ratko Mladic and fellow war crimes suspect Goran Hadzic a draft report from the United Nations' tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) revealed on Tuesday.

Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb general, is accused of masterminding the worst atrocity committed in Europe since World War II - the August 1995 killing of over 8,000 Bosnian muslims in Srebrenica.

Hadzic, a former Serbian Croat leader, is charged with committing war crimes during the forced eviction of Croats from Serb-majority areas of Croatia during 1991-1993.

But in a report, seen by the German Press Agency dpa and due to be discussed by the UN Security Council on December 6, ICTY prosecutor Serge Brammertz states that 'Serbia's efforts to apprehend the two remaining fugitives remain problematic.'

Despite Serbia's stated willingness to cooperate with ICTY investigators, 'few concrete results have been obtained over the past six months,' Brammertz laments.

Cooperation with the Hague-based UN tribunal is crucial for the advancement of Serbia's European Union's bid. Last month the Netherlands successfully insisted that any further progress should be blocked until Brammertz declares himself satisfied with what Belgrade is doing.

A similar obligation applies to Croatia, another EU-hopeful that hopes to become a member much sooner than Serbia - around 2013.

In the report, Brammertz points out that Zagreb is still failing to produce or explain how it has lost the documents ICTY prosecutors requested in the context of the war crimes trial against Ante Gotovina, a former Croatian general.

Material produced by the task force the Croatian government set up last year to address the problem 'reveal inconsistencies and raise questions that have not been resolved,' Brammertz points out.

The ICTY prosecutor's report also touches upon ongoing trials in the Hague, including the landmark proceedings against former Bosnian Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic, who stands accused of the Srebrenica genocide along with Mladic.

Acknowledging that Karadzic's self-defence strategy is successfully slowing down court proceedings, Brammertz admits that the trial is due to last longer than expected.

'The overall time estimate for completion of the trial has increased, due primarily to the time taken in court by Karadzic in cross-examination,' he says.

'Based on the current situation, the prosecution's case will be completed between the end of December 2011 and mid April 2012,' Brammertz concludes.