HC Deb 11 January 2002 vol 377 cc1069-70W
David Cairns

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects those indicted for war crimes in the Balkans to be transferred to the Hague Tribunal. [25429]

Mr. MacShane

According to official figures from the Tribunal (ICTY), of those indictees currently in The Hague, 10, including Slobodan Milosevic, have been arrested and transferred by governments and 15 have surrendered voluntarily. In addition, 18 individuals who were the subject of the NATO Stabilisation Force (SFOR)'s 26 operations to date (14 of which have involved British troops) remain in detention.

Full co-operation with the ICTY is an international obligation. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary raised this issue directly with FRY President Kostunica and Croatian President Mesic during official visits to London in late 2001, and we have also discussed it with the political leaders of Bosnia. We have made it clear that the transfer of all remaining indictees, including Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Aute Gotovina must be accelerated in 2002.