§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they continue to support international efforts to bring to justice those responsible for crimes committed in support of Serbian political objectives during the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia. [HL1595]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)Yes. We are determined that all those indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) should be tried in The Hague. The detention on 8 April of two indictees by British SFOR troops in Prijedor reaffirms the high priority we attach to achieving this aim.
Her Majesty's Government fully support the work of ICTY. The UK has committed substantial resources to the tribunal to this end: in addition to our assessed contribution of £720,000 in 1997, we are funding the construction of an interim courtroom at a cost of £300,000. We have also supplied a substantial amount of information and are currently seconding eight personnel to the tribunal. We are also contributing £1.22 million towards the tribunal's 1998 exhumation programme.