US embassy cable - 04ZAGREB964

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ZAGREB 000964 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/WCI:PROSPER, EUR/SCE:KABUMOTO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014 
TAGS: KAWC, PREL, KJUS, HR, War Crimes 
SUBJECT: ICTY INDICTS NORAC: CROATIA PREPARING FOR CASE 
TRANSFER 
 
Classified By: Poloff Justin Friedman, reasons 1.5 (b) & (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY and COMMENT: On May 25, the ICTY announced the 
issuance of an indictment against Croatian retired General 
Mirko Norac for his role in the Medak Pocket case.  ICTY Head 
of Office Thomas Osorio (protect) told us that the Tribunal 
intends to transfer this case to Croatia for prosecution. 
Minister of Justice Vesna Skare-Ozbolt told Ambassador Frank 
that she was concerned about the timing of the indictment but 
that the GoC was ready to work through the legal issues to 
ensure the Croatian judicial system was ready to try the 
case.  Although this announcement compresses the time the GoC 
has to prepare for this first case transfer, we believe that 
the key players, including the Minister of Justice and the 
Chief State Prosecutor, will do everything necessary to 
ensure the Croatian legal system is ready to try this case. 
END SUMMARY and COMMENT 
 
Norac Indicted 
-------------- 
 
2. (C) The May 25 ICTY announcement of an indictment against 
Croatian retired General Mirko Norac came as a surprise. 
ICTY Head of Office Thomas Osorio told us on May 24 that he 
had expected that the judge would not issue the indictment 
for several weeks.  Osorio regretted the timing, as the ICTY 
on May 21 had just begun the first of a series of joint 
training seminars with the Ministry of Justice to prepare 
Croatian prosecutors and judges to handle indictments 
transferred to Croatia for prosecution under Article 11 bis 
of the ICTY Statute. 
 
Transfer to Croatia 
------------------- 
 
3. (C) Osorio said that the ICTY Office of the Prosector had 
been planning to join the Norac indictment to that of Rahem 
Ademi and make this case the first one transferred to 
Croatia.  However, as the weekend training seminar had 
verified, there were several legal issues outstanding that 
needed to be worked through.  The key issue is how to 
prosecute command responsibility charges absent a 
corresponding statute in the Croatian Criminal Code valid at 
the time of the crimes.  Osorio believes, as does OSCE Rule 
of Law Unit Head Mary Wycoff, that there are sufficient 
elements in Croatian law, including the Yugoslav National 
Army Military Law (valid in Croatia from 1992 to 1996), to 
cover command responsibility. 
 
Preparation Timing Compressed 
----------------------------- 
 
4. (C) The problem for the GoC and the ICTY is building a 
sufficiently strong legal case around the command 
responsibility issue.  The weekend seminar confirmed that 
this issue remains controversial among Croatian legal 
professionals.  Osorio reported that Croatian judges, led by 
Supreme Court Justice Damir Kos, will insist on a 
Constitutional Court ruling in the matter.  Osorio had hoped 
to have much of the summer to build this case, but the early 
release of the Norac indictment will compress this timing. 
 
Bad Political Timing for GoC 
---------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Minister of Justice Vesna Skare-Ozbolt told Ambassador 
Frank on May 25 that she was also concerned about the timing 
of the indictment.  The Sabor is scheduled to discuss the 
ICTY indictments of Cermak and Markac in the next day or two, 
and the GoC has been working hard to manage the tone of this 
debate.  The release of the Norac indictment would make it 
more difficult to keep inflammatory rhetoric out of the 
debate, even if the debate's conclusions have been worked out 
in advance. 
 
6. (C) Skare-Ozbolt said it would be important at the outset 
that it be made clear to the public that the Norac case would 
be transferred to Croatia for prosecution.  Osorio told us 
that there would be no arrest warrant or request for transfer 
for Norac.  However, the ICTY press release issued May 25 
makes no mention of these points. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
7. (C) We believe that Minister Skare-Ozbolt, along with 
State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic, are committed to preparing the 
Croatian legal system as much as possible to ensure that 
cases transferred from ICTY are properly handled.  Aside from 
 
 
the legal issues to be resolved, the ICTY Statute 11 bis 
requires that the Tribunal monitor how these cases are 
handled, with the option of pulling the trial back to The 
Hague if the GoC cannot handle its responsibilities.  Osorio 
and Bajic have told us that they want to have a successful 
first prosecution and are taking steps to ensure a success. 
The compressed timetable will add to the challenge, but not 
make it insurmountable. 
FRANK 
 
 
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