NATO's Tribunal: Straight From the Horse's Mouth

By Jared Israel, [30 June 2001]

Want to know more about the Hague Tribunal on Yugoslavia? Is it the harbinger of an age where humanitarian justice triumphs over nations? Or is it the hitman of Imperial policy?

Below is a list of articles on the Tribunal with brief descriptions. The writers include Dr. Hans Koechler, a most respected analyst, associated with the United Nations.

You may skip right to this list. Or first consider the following direct evidence. It is straight from the horse's mouth.

It's Ours!

Did you think the Tribunal was free to indict anyone without respect to rank or nationality?

Exhibit A: Interview with Jamie Shea, NATO spokesman, during the aggression against Yugoslavia.

QUESTION: Jamie, I wonder if you could comment on a speech made by Justice Arbour of the International Criminal Tribunal last week, a copy of which I left with your very fine secretary so that you would have reference to it. Judge Arbour in her speech said that as a result of the NATO initiatives being initiated on 24 March the countries of NATO have voluntarily submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of her court whose mandate applies to the theatre of the chosen military operation and whose reach is unqualified by nationality and whose investigations are triggered at the sole discretion of the prosecutor who has primacy over national courts. Does NATO recognise Judge Arbour's jurisdiction over their activities?

AMIE SHEA: First of all, my understanding of the UN resolution that established the Court is that it applies to the former Yugoslavia, it is for war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Secondly, I think we have to distinguish between the theoretical and the practical. I believe that when Justice Arbour starts her investigation, she will because we will allow her to. It's not Milosevic that has allowed Justice Arbour her visa to go to Kosovo to carry out her investigations. If her court, as we want, is to be allowed access, it will be because of NATO so NATO is the friend of the Tribunal, NATO are the people who have been detaining indicted war criminals for the Tribunal in Bosnia. We have done it, 14 arrests so far by SFOR, and we will continue to do it.

NATO countries are those that have provided the finance to set up the Tribunal, we are amongst the majority financiers, and of course to build a second chamber so that prosecutions can be speeded up so let me assure that we and the Tribunal are all one on this, we want to see war criminals brought to justice and I am certain that when Justice Arbour goes to Kosovo and looks at the facts she will be indicting people of Yugoslav nationality and I don't anticipate any others at this stage .

Washington Created It; NATO Makes It Possible

Did you think critics were indulging in hyperbole when they said Madeline Albright was Mother of the Tribunal?

EXHIBIT B: Excerpts from speech by Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, President of the Hague Tribunal, at her award ceremony at the American Supreme Court on April 5, 1999.

I am also pleased to be here tonight as a guest of the Coalition for International Justice, which was founded in 1995 with assistance from CEELI and the Open Society Institute. The Coalition has been a great source of support to the Tribunal. CIJ jumped in early and has stayed involved ever since. From running a workshop to assist the defense counsel in the very first trial, through seminars for the judges...

Without the co-operation of the states and entities in the former Yugoslavia and the international community as a whole, the Tribunal had no way of bringing even a single accused to trial.

Nevertheless, we persevered and did what we could to build the institution. We benefited from the strong support of concerned governments and dedicated individuals such as Secretary Albright. As the permanent representative to the United Nations, she had worked with unceasing resolve to establish the Tribunal. Indeed, we often refer to her as the mother of the Tribunal. And I am proud of what we have accomplished. After those first years of struggling to simply establish the court, we have now really gotten on with the substance of our mandate.

(From http://www.pict-pcti.org/news/archive/April/ICTY.04.05.html )

Emperor's Clothes Note: The Open Society Institute, which Ms. McDonald found so helpful, is George Soros outftt. Soros acts as a kind of high-profit wing of the CIA. On the one hand, he is a ruthless currency-pirate (that is polite), implicated in savaging the Thai economy, which launched the great Asian crash. On the other hand, his foundation sets up and funds front groups throughout the former Socialist countries and elsewhere as beachheads for U.S. penetration.

In his testimony at the July, 1999 hearing on overthrowing democracy in Yugoslavia, Special Yugoslav Envoy Gelbard spoke of the Open Society Foundation as a great help in carrying out Imperial penetration. CELLI appears to be part of a group of governmental and semi-governmental organizations which work together to develop Fifth Column organizations in countries targeted by the U.S. Empire. One of the main coordinators of this apparatus is a CIA-spinoff, the National Endowment for Democracy, about which see US Arrogance And Yugoslav Elections at http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm#z and Eviscerating Democracy at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/szamuely/neda2.htm

Washington Finances It

Did you think this United Nations War Crimes Tribunal was funded by the United Nations?

Exhibit C: The Tribunal Thanks Washington for Donating the Money to Do Washington's Propaganda Work

Press Release 7 Communiqui de presse (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) The Hague, 19 April 1999 JL/PIU/397-E

THE UNITED STATES PLEDGE USD 500,000 TO

TRIBUNALS OUTREACH PROJECT

PRESIDENT McDONALD GRATEFUL FOR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION

On behalf of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the President of the Tribunal, Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, has expressed her deep appreciation to the U.S. Government for its pledge of USD 500,000 for the Tribunals Outreach project. Harold Koh, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, announced the donation at a press briefing at the Tribunal on Friday 16 April 1999.

This generous contribution, which makes up over a third of the total Outreach budget, will, as Assistant Secretary of State Harold Koh noted allow the Tribunal to carry its message of impartial justice not only to governments and legal practitioners in the former Yugoslavia, but, most of all, to the families of victims.

The President urges other countries and organisations to support this vital project, which is aimed at bridging the communications gap between the Tribunal and the people of the former Yugoslavia and helping in the international communitys overall reconciliation effort.

(Emphasis added. >From the official ICTY website http://www.un.org/icty/basic.htm )

Some Useful Articles on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

In Illegal Tribunal—Illegal Indictment Dr. Hans Koechler, the distinguished philosopher and social-legal analyst associated with the United Nations examines the Tribunal and does not like what he finds. Can be read at http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/prog2.htm
In An Impartial Tribunal? Really? Attorney Chris Black examines the Tribunal's history and methods of operations. Can be read at http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/Impartial.htm
Dr. Kosta Cavoski, a distinguished Yugoslav legal scholar, has written a mind-boggling four-part series.
In The War Crimes Tribunal vs. Gen. Djordje Djukic at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-1.htm and The Mistreatment of Col. Aleksa Krsmanovic at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-2.htm Professor Cavoski deals with the torture and physical destruction of Serbian defendants.
In Illegal Origins at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-3.htm Professor Cavoski analyzes the Tribunal's legal rationale, or lack of same.
In Learning from the Inquisition at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/cavoski/c-4.htm Professor Cavoski describes the practices of the Tribunal, which thoroughly violate what we would consider natural legal guarantees.