War Crimes Tribunal (Hansard, 16 July 1993)

§ Mr. Wareing
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in the establishment of a war crimes tribunal; when it is expected to sit; and what rules for admissible evidence will be used.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Since the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 827 establishing an international tribunal for former Yugoslavia, the United Nations Secretary-General has been making arrangements for its functioning. The first task is to appoint the prosecutor and judges of the tribunal. The prosecutor should be appointed within the next two months. The judges will be elected by the United Nations General Assembly this autumn. The rules of evidence and procedure will be drawn up by the judges once appointed.

§ Mr. Wareing
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on evidence which has been gathered by international730W organisations for future consideration by a war crimes tribunal; how such evidence is likely to be presented; and how it will be categorised.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Most information submitted so far to the United Nations Commission of Experts, who are charged with the collation, analysis and investigation of such evidence, has been collected by states. We understand that Amnesty International has submitted three reports on war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and that Helsinki Watch has submitted one. It will be for the prosecutor and judges of the international tribunal, once appointed, to decide how this evidence might be categorised or presented.

§ Mr. Wareing
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on supporting a war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; what the cost of the United Kingdom's commitment is likely to be; who will bear the cost of locating and transporting witnesses before the tribunal; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
We fully support the creation of an ad hoc tribunal for former Yugoslavia. The tribunal is to be funded from the United Nations regular budget. The financial annex to the United Nations Secretary-General's report on the means of establishing the tribunal includes an estimate of $30.5 million for all the tribunal's costs for one year once it is operational. The estimate will be scrutinised by the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions at this year's United Nations General Assembly.

§ Mr. Wareing
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what investigations into alleged war crimes in the former Yugoslavia have been undertaken; how many of the alleged perpetrators are(a) Croat, (b) Muslim and (c) Serb; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The United Nations Commission of Experts was established in September 1992 by United Nations Security Council resolution 780 to collate, analyse and investigate evidence of war crimes committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 submitted to the United Nations under the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 771. The commission is building a data base of incidents, victims and alleged perpetrators. At this stage it is not possible to say how many alleged perpetrators come from each party to the Bosnian conflict.