Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Gennady Kuzmin at UN Security Council briefing on agenda item "Report of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals"

Mr. President,

We welcome President of the International Residual Mechanism Carmel Agius and Prosecutor Serge Brammertz.

Today, on 11 December, we can already sum up the results of the year. Unfortunately, the global community still bears the burden of tribunals that were established a quarter of a century ago. Its present-day incarnation is the Residual Mechanism. Attempts of the Security Council to shut down this project in 2010 and 2014 turned out futile.

The ICTY has a systemic problem – it was established in a political context, and incorporated the worst features of political justice. Statistics and essence of verdicts clearly show which side was pre-announced guilty in this tangle of Balkan controversies.

Do you remember the biting irony of those years regarding the ICTY-style of assumption of innocence? “One is considered innocent until proven Serb.”

Sadly, the Residual Mechanism has received a deficient inheritance. It is neither justice nor justness that drives the Mechanism, but this initially defective matrix.

During the report year, the verdict of Serb Radovan Karadžić was revised and increased in severity. The Judges assumed that a 40-year-long imprisonment was not enough for a person aged 74, therefore they replaced is with a life imprisonment.

We draw attention of the leadership of the Tribunal to the fact that defendants, in particular Ratko Mladić, need timely and proper medical assistance. We hope he receives quality medical check-ups and adequate treatment in the penitentiary facility of the Mechanism. We still stand ready to receive him for treatment in our country.

We call the Mechanism to stick to its functions at the Rwanda track as well.

Mr. President,

Leadership of the Residual Mechanism has announced that the next year will be a landmark one. This is really so. We expect that all cases will be concluded in accordance with the stipulated terms. Same goes for the so called “contempt cases” that have become particularly numerous lately.

In light of the pending review by the Security Council of the activity of the Residual Mechanism, we express our hopes that 2020 will bring us closer to termination of the work of this mechanism. On our part, we stand ready to facilitate this process.

Thank you.