|
|
An Impartial Tribunal? - Part 3.Aggression and crimes against peace left outThe Tribunal has jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity, but crimes against peace, the worst crime under the Nuremberg principles, are not within the purview of the tribunal. The underlying reason for this is that the members of the Security Council preferred to reserve to themselves competence in the field of aggression and similar crimes against peace. The members of the Security Council have a very keen sense of humour or perhaps more accurately, self-preservation. In a statement to the Secretary-General of the United Nation, Mr. Boutros-Boutros Ghali, on January 21, 1994, by Antonio Cassese the Tribunal's political character was made quite clear when he said in reference to the role of the Tribunal, "The political and diplomatic response (to the Balkans conflict) takes into account the exigencies and the tempo of the international community. The military response will come at the appropriate time." In other words, the Tribunal is considered a political response. He went on to state, "Our tribunal will not be simply "window dressing" but a decisive step in the construction of a new world order."
The governing statute is continuously violated: independence and financingThe governing statute of the Tribunal states in Article 16 that the Prosecutor shall act independently as a separate organ of the Tribunal and shall not seek or receive instruction from any government or any other source. Article 32 states that the expenses of the Tribunal shall be borne by the regular budget of the United Nations. Both of these provisions have been openly and continuously violated. The Tribunal itself, through its senior officials openly brags about its particularly close ties to the American government. In her remarks to the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on April 5th of this year, Judge Gabrielle Kirk Mcdonald, President of the Tribunal, and an American stated, "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". If she is the mother then Bill Clinton is the father, as Louise Arbour confirmed by her action of reporting to the President of the United States the decision to indict Milosevic two days before she announced it to the rest of the world, in blatant violation of her duty to remain independent. Further, she and the current prosecutor have made several public appearances with U.S officials, including Madeleine Albright, and both have openly stated that they rely on Nato governments for investigations, governments which have a great interest in the undermining of the Yugoslavian leadership.
NATO, not the UN, the gendarme of the TribunalIn 1996, the prosecutor met with the Secretary-General of NATO and the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe to "establish contacts and begin discussing modalities of cooperation and Assistance". On May 9th, 1996 a memorandum of understanding between the Office of the Prosecutor and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) was signed by both parties. Further meetings have taken place since including that of the president of the Tribunal with General Wesley Clarke. The memorandum of May 9th spelled out the practical arrangements for support to the tribunal and the transfer of indicted persons to the Tribunal. In other words, NATO forces became the gendarmes of the Tribunal, not UN forces, and the Tribunal put itself at the disposal of Nato. This relationship has continued despite the Tribunal's requirement to be independent of any national government and, therefore, group of national governments.
Primarily US, not UN, fundingThe Tribunal has received substantial funds from individual States, private foundations and corporations in violation of Article 32 of its Charter. Much of its money has come from the U.S. government directly in cash and donations of computer equipment. In the last year for which public figures are available, 1994/95, the United States provided $700,000 in cash and $2,300,000 worth of equipment. That same year the Open Society Institute, a foundation established by George Soros, the American billionaire financier, to bring "openness" to the former east bloc countries contributed $150,000 and the Rockefeller family, through the Rockefeller Foundation, contributed $50,000 and there have been donations from corporations such as Time-Warner, and Discovery Products, both US corporations. It also important to know that Mr. Soros' foundation not only funds the Tribunal it also funds the main KLA newspaper in Pristina, an obvious conflict of interest that has not been mentioned once in the western press. The Tribunal also receives money from the United States Institute for Peace for its Outreach project, a public relations arm of the Tribunal set up to overcome opposition in the former Yugoslav republics to its work and the constant criticisms of selective prosecution and the application of double standards; objections which have obvious merit and which are never answered by anyone at the Tribunal or by any of its sponsors. The Institute for Peace is stated to be " an independent, non-partisan federal institution created and funded by Congress to strengthen the nation's capacity to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflict." Established in 1984 under Ronald Reagan, its Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States. The Tribunal also receives support from the Coalition For International Justice whose purpose is also to enhance public opinion of the Tribunal. The CIJ was founded and is funded by, again, George Soros' Open Society Institute and something called CEELI, the Central and East European Law Institute, created by the American Bar Association and lawyers close to the U.S. government to promote the replacement of socialist legal systems with free market ones. These groups also have supplied many of the legal staff of the Tribunal. In her speech to the Supreme Court, Judge Mcdonald said, "The Tribunal has been well served by the tremendous work of a number of lawyers who have come to the Tribunal through the CIJ and CEELI..." It is also interesting to note that the occasion of Judge McDonalds speech was her acceptance of an award from the American Bar Association and CEELI. In the same speech she also said that "We are now seeking funding from states and foundations to carry out this critical effort." Impartial Tribunal - Part 4 |
