General Assembly Chapter V
The International Tribunals
263. At the request of the General Assembly in December 1998, I appointed five independent
experts to review all aspects of the functioning of the two International Tribunals. The review
is general in scope but will focus on judicial management, especially case management in the
pre-trial phase. Its aim will be to ascertain whether resources can be deployed more
efficiently. The review team is to report to the General Assembly towards the end of 1999. 264. The judgements of the two Tribunals have continued to clarify key aspects of
international humanitarian law. These include the scope of grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions of 1949; the application of, and the distinction between, the concepts of
international and non-international armed conflict; the rules of international humanitarian law
which are applicable in armed conflict of a non-international character; the meaning and
scope of crimes against humanity, including their relation to armed conflict; the definition of
torture in international humanitarian law; the definition of rape in international criminal law;
the criminality of the planning and preparation of violations of international humanitarian
law; the meaning and scope of command responsibility; the legitimacy of duress as a defence
against charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity; and elements of the offence of
aiding and abetting in the planning, preparation or execution of a crime under international
law. 265. Two main challenges confront the Tribunals. First, further steps must be taken to reduce
the time the accused are held in custody awaiting trial and the time taken to conduct the trials
themselves. Second, the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia faces the additional, and
immense, task of investigating crimes committed in Kosovo. International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
266. In the past year, the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia issued four
indictments against nine individuals including, most notably, Slobodan Milosevic, President
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Since its inception, the Tribunal has issued 27 public
indictments against 90 individuals. 267. At the time this report was being prepared, the Tribunal was holding 30 people in
custody. Five of those were awaiting appeals; 10 were being tried; 15 were awaiting trial.
During the past year, the trials of eight accused were commenced, while judgements were
handed down in respect of six accused, bringing the total of those subjected to judgement to
seven. Five of the accused were found guilty of at least some of the charges against them; the
other was found not guilty on all counts. In addition, the appeal of one accused against
conviction and sentence was rejected by the Appeals Chamber, which at the same time
allowed appeals by the Prosecutor against his acquittal on certain counts. 268. During the year, the President of the Tribunal wrote four times to the President of the
Security Council protesting at the failure of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to cooperate
with the Tribunal, its continuing failure to arrest and transfer three persons indicted by the
Tribunal and its persistent refusal to permit the Prosecutor and her investigators to enter
Kosovo. 269. As a consequence of events in Kosovo, the Office of the Prosecutor established
temporary operational bases in Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The
Prosecutor also received my authorization to recruit up to 300 type-II gratis personnel from
Member States to undertake specialized forensic work in Kosovo as soon as international
forces were deployed. To date, 11 States have finalized agreements with the Organization to
provide experts for this purpose. 270. Austria and Sweden concluded agreements on enforcing the sentences of the Tribunal,
bringing to five the number of those agreements concluded to date. Negotiations are under
way with other States to secure similar agreements. 271. On 16 October 1998, the General Assembly elected three judges to staff a new, third
Trial Chamber. They took up their duties on 16 November 1998. Judge Gabrielle Kirk
McDonald announced her resignation from the Tribunal, with effect from 17 November 1999.
Following consultations with the Presidents of the Security Council and the General
Assembly, I appointed Patricia McGowan Wald, a national of the United States of America,
to serve out the remainder of Judge McDonald's term of office, which ends in November
2001. The Prosecutor of the two Tribunals, Louise Arbour, announced her resignation with
effect from 15 September 1999. On 11 August 1999, the Security Council appointed my
nominee, Carla Del Ponte, a national of Switzerland, as Prosecutor of both Tribunals,
effective 15 September 1999. International Tribunal for Rwanda
272. During the past year, the International Tribunal for Rwanda issued two indictments
against five individuals. Since its inception, it has served 28 indictments on 48 people. Thirty-eight people are currently in custody under the authority of the Tribunal; 5 accused are
waiting for appeals to be heard; 3 are being tried; and 30 are awaiting trial. Five accused have
already been found, or pleaded, guilty on counts involving genocide. All five have been
sentenced. Appeals are pending from all of these judgements or sentences. 273. Mali became the first State to conclude an agreement on enforcing the sentences of the
Tribunal. Negotiations are under way with other States for the conclusion of further such
agreements. 274. On 3 November 1998, the General Assembly elected nine judges to the Tribunal's Trial
Chambers. At the Tribunal's plenary session in June 1999, Judge Navanethem Pillay was
elected President of the Tribunal, replacing Judge Laïty Kama, who was ineligible for re-election to that post.
Official Records
Fifty-fourth Session
Supplement No. 1 (A/54/1)