Fonte:
KOMINFORM
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The Hague, 9 June 1999
Legal representatives from Canada, Greece, Norway and the United Kingdom met today for two and a half hours with the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Louise Arbour and 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 reaffirmed that the tribunal has jurisdiction over any crimes committed by individual Nato leaders in Yugoslavia and welcomed the submissions as useful to the Tribunal in carrying out its mandate. Arbour did not disclose the nature of any ongoing investigation of NATO crimes citing a firm rule of the Tribunal against doing so before it is ready to announce an indictment.
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 indivdual 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 Rwangala of the United Kingdom and 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 Mandel. '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.
Contacts:
Michael Mandel (Canada): mmandel@yorku.ca
Alexandros Lykourezos (Greece): lykourez@otenet.gr
Alejandro Teitelbaum (France): assamjur@alo.com
Glen Rangwala (UK): gr10009@cam.ac.uk
André Savik (Norway): balkan@balkan.cc