United Nations Security Council Resolution 1503
Encyclopedia
United Nations
Security Council Resolution
1503, adopted unanimously on August 28, 2003, after recalling resolutions 827
(1993), 955
(1994), 978
(1995), 1165
(1998), 1166
(1998), 1329
(2000), 1411
(2002), 1431
(2002) and 1481
(2003), the Council decided to split the prosecutorial
duties of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) which had previously been under the responsibility of one official, Carla Del Ponte
, since 1999.
and Rwanda
. Welcoming steps taken the concerned states in the Balkans
and African Great Lakes
region, it noted the objective of both tribunals to apprehend all remaining persons at large
and called for the co-operation of countries in this regard. The Council urged states to impose measures against individuals assisting fugitives through travel bans and the freezing of assets.
The preamble of the resolution also envisaged the completion of ICTY and ICTR investigations by 2004, trials by the end of 2008 and all work in 2010 by concentrating on the prosecution of senior leaders. Lower-level officials would be tried at a national level. The strengthening of national judicial systems was cruicial to the ICTY and ICTR completion strategies, including the establishment of a war crime
s chamber at the ICTY. It was convinced that both tribunals could complete their work more efficiently if each had its own Prosecutor.
, the Council called on the international community
to assist national jurisdictions in improving their capacity to prosecute cases transferred from the ICTY and ICTR, encouraging the development of outreach programmes. It called on all states, particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Croatia
, Serbia and Montenegro
and the Republic Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina to co-operate with the ICTY with regard to Radovan Karadžić
, Ratko Mladić
and Ante Gotovina
. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
, Kenya
, Rwanda
and the Republic of the Congo
, among other states, were requested to co-operate with the ICTR with regard to Félicien Kabuga
and the Rwandan Patriotic Army.
All states were urged to co-operate with Interpol
in apprehending fugitives while the donor community was asked to support High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
in the creation of a special chamber at the ICTY to deal with serious violations of international humanitarian law
. The Presidents and Prosecutors of both tribunals were asked to report on the implementation of the completion strategies.
Finally, the Secretary-General Kofi Annan
was instructed to nominate a Prosecutor for the ICTR, while his decision to nominate Carla Del Ponte as Prosecutor at the ICTY was welcomed.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Security Council Resolution
United Nations Security Council Resolution
A United Nations Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council; the UN body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security"....
1503, adopted unanimously on August 28, 2003, after recalling resolutions 827
United Nations Security Council Resolution 827
United Nations Security Council Resolution 827, adopted unanimously on May 25, 1993, after reaffirming Resolution 713 and all subsequent resolutions on the topic of the former Yugoslavia, approved report S/25704 of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, with the Statute of the International...
(1993), 955
United Nations Security Council Resolution 955
United Nations Security Council Resolution 955, adopted on November 8, 1994, after recalling all resolutions on Rwanda, the Council noted that serious violations of international humanitarian law had taken place in the country and, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, established...
(1994), 978
United Nations Security Council Resolution 978
United Nations Security Council Resolution 978, adopted unanimously on February 27, 1995, after recalling all previous resolutions on Rwanda, including 935 and 955 , the Council instructed Member States on the arrest and detention of persons responsible for acts during the Rwandan Genocide, within...
(1995), 1165
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1165
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1165, adopted unanimously on April 30, 1998, after recalling Resolution 955 , the Council established a third trial chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ....
(1998), 1166
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1166
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1166, adopted unanimously on May 13, 1998, after recalling Resolution 827 , the Council established a third trial chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ....
(1998), 1329
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1329
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1329, adopted unanimously on November 30, 2000, after recalling resolutions 827 and 955 , the Council enlarged the appeals chambers at both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
(2000), 1411
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1411
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1411, adopted unanimously on May 17, 2002, after recalling resolutions 827 , 955 , 1165 , 1166 and 1329 , the Council amended the statutes of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia to address the issue of judges...
(2002), 1431
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1431
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1431, adopted unanimously on August 14, 2002, after recalling resolutions 827 , 955 , 1165 , 1166 , 1329 and 1411 , the Council established a pool of temporary judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in order for it to complete its work...
(2002) and 1481
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1481
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1481, adopted unanimously on May 19, 2003, after recalling resolutions 827 , 1166 , 1329 , 1411 and 1431 , the Council amended the statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to allow temporary judges to adjudicate in...
(2003), the Council decided to split the prosecutorial
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
duties of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
(ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
(ICTR) which had previously been under the responsibility of one official, Carla Del Ponte
Carla Del Ponte
Carla Del Ponte is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in August...
, since 1999.
Observations
The Security Council commended the progress both tribunals had made in contributing to peace and security in the former YugoslaviaFormer Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
and Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
. Welcoming steps taken the concerned states in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and African Great Lakes
African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes and the Rift Valley lakes in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African Rift on the continent of Africa...
region, it noted the objective of both tribunals to apprehend all remaining persons at large
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
and called for the co-operation of countries in this regard. The Council urged states to impose measures against individuals assisting fugitives through travel bans and the freezing of assets.
The preamble of the resolution also envisaged the completion of ICTY and ICTR investigations by 2004, trials by the end of 2008 and all work in 2010 by concentrating on the prosecution of senior leaders. Lower-level officials would be tried at a national level. The strengthening of national judicial systems was cruicial to the ICTY and ICTR completion strategies, including the establishment of a war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s chamber at the ICTY. It was convinced that both tribunals could complete their work more efficiently if each had its own Prosecutor.
Acts
Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations CharterChapter VII of the United Nations Charter
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace...
, the Council called on the international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
to assist national jurisdictions in improving their capacity to prosecute cases transferred from the ICTY and ICTR, encouraging the development of outreach programmes. It called on all states, particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
and the Republic Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina to co-operate with the ICTY with regard to Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
, Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
and Ante Gotovina
Ante Gotovina
Ante Gotovina is a former Senior Corporal of the French Foreign Legion and former Lieutenant General of the Croatian Army who served in the Croatian War for Independence...
. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and the Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
, among other states, were requested to co-operate with the ICTR with regard to Félicien Kabuga
Félicien Kabuga
Félicien Kabuga is a Rwandan businessman, accused of bankrolling and participating in the Rwandan Genocide. He has always claimed he is innocent.-Early life:...
and the Rwandan Patriotic Army.
All states were urged to co-operate with Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
in apprehending fugitives while the donor community was asked to support High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the Dayton Peace Agreement to oversee the civilian implementation of this agreement. The High Representative and the OHR represent the...
in the creation of a special chamber at the ICTY to deal with serious violations of international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law
International humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...
. The Presidents and Prosecutors of both tribunals were asked to report on the implementation of the completion strategies.
Finally, the Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
was instructed to nominate a Prosecutor for the ICTR, while his decision to nominate Carla Del Ponte as Prosecutor at the ICTY was welcomed.
See also
- Bosnian GenocideBosnian GenocideThe term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
- List of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1501 to 1600 (2003 – 2005)
- Rwandan GenocideRwandan GenocideThe Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
- Yugoslav WarsYugoslav warsThe Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...