Statutes

of an International European (unofficial) Tribunal concerning

 the NATO War against Yugoslavia

The

convened by Peace movements and Peace organizations as well as renowned personalities approved on ___________ the following

in the name of the aforementioned for an International European (unofficial) Tribunal concerning the NATO War againstYugoslavia as its basis of functioning:

These statutes have been established in the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and are in accordance with generally recognized principles and norms of international law, to wit:

- The Briand-Kellogg Pakt renouncing aggressive war

(1928);

- The ,,Nuremberg Principles" (1945) as confirmed by UN-Resolution 95 (1);

- The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948);

- The Geneva Conventions (1949) and the Additional Protocols (1977), The Statutes of the International War Crimes Tribunal for FormerYugoslavia (1993);

- The Statutes of the (proposed) International Criminal Court (1998).

 

The Tribunal will deliberate on accusations concerning the following international crimes:

Crime of Aggression

Crime of Genocide

Crimes against Humanity

Crimes of War

insofar as they were committed subsequent to March 23, 1999 in the course of armed conflicts against Yugoslavia or on its national territory, including its airspace and its territorial waters or neighboring states affected by such crimes and to the extent that they can be proven to have been committed by natural persons.

For purposes of these Statutes, the Crime of Aggression as defined by the General Assembly of the United Nations Dec.14, 1974 in the approved resolution Nr. 3314 (XXIX), - the planning, preparation, initiation or execution of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, accords or guarantees or participation in a common plan or a conspiracy for the execution of the above enumerated acts.

For purposes of these Statutes, the crime of Genocide is defined as including the following acts committed with intent to destory, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

a) killing members of the group;

b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

c) deliberately inflicting living conditions on the group calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. (Genocide Convention)

 

For purposes of these Statutes, Crimes against Humanity include the following acts insofar that they were carried out in the context of a massive or systematic attack in armed conflicts againt the civilian population:

a) murder

b) extermination

c) enslavement

d) bannishment

e) emprisonment

f) torture

g) rape

h) political, racist or religious persecution

i) other inhumane acts

 

For purposes of these Statutes, War Crimes include those acts committed by land, see and airborne forces in violation of the laws or customs of warfare, particularly grave violations of the Geneva Agreements (Aug.12, 1949) including the Additional Protocols (1977) particularly:

a) willful attacks carried out against the civilian population or individual civilians for the purpose of causing death or serious injury to body or health (Art. 85, Parag. 3 of the First Additional Protocol).

b) launching an indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian population or civilian objects in the knowledge that such attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects (Art. 85, Parag. 3 of the First Additional Protocol)

c) use of weapons, ammunition, material and methods of warfare that are forbidden or capable of inflicting superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering, including the use of toxic weapons; to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment. (Art. 35, of the First Additional Protocol)

d) deliberate destruction of cities and villages or devastation not required by military necessity;

e) attacks against undefended cities and villages, apartments or buildings or their bombardment

f) occupation, destruction or deliberate damaging of institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences as well as historical memorials or works of art and science

g) plundering public or private property

h) willful killing of persons standing under the protection of the Geneva conventions.

i) torture or inhumane treatment, including biological experimentation

j) willful causing of serious pain or the serious restriction of physical capacities or health of persons standing under the protection of the Geneva Conventions

k) wide ranging destruction - not justifiable by military objective, as well as the illegal and arbitrary confiscation of property.

I) the violation of the, in Articles 54, 55, and 56 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (1977), protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, for protection of the natural environment and protection of works and installations containing dangerous forces, are forbidden.

 

The Tribunal favors a personal penal accountability against individuals when suspected of having planned, ordered, committed, incited to or to otherwise have participated in the planning, preparation or commission of or of being an accomplice to any of the crimes named in Articles 2 - 5 of these Statutes.

The status of a natural person within a country's apparatus, be it legislative or executive, or as representative of - or commissioned by interstate organizations, does not discharge the respective individual from his or her responsibility.

Those persons will equally be held personally accountable, who (also verbally, in writing or with images) intentionally, substantially, and systematically promoted the commission of the above named criminal acts.

Natural persons should only be exonerated from personal accountability if they in fact did not know the circumstances forming the basis for accountability in terms of these statutes, or if they were incapable of avoiding the error of the criminal nature of these acts.

A proceeding against specified persons because of specified crimes will not take place if or as long as such person is defendent in penal proceedings for the same crimes before an international or national court of law.

The Tribunal is comprised of 7 (or more) renowned personalities submitted as candidates by the Peace Movements of different countries and convened by the Board of Trustees.

The different nations or regions should be appropriately represented on this Tribunal, as well as an adequate number of jurists in penal law should be solicited to participate.

The members convened to this Tribunal pledge publicly to exercise the duties of their charitable office in an objective and non-partisan manner. The appointed members will elect the Tribunal's President.

The Tribunal has its seat at the seat of the Board of Trustees in Berlin.

At the Tribunal public prosecutors will carry out the function of formulating and raising the public indictment against the defendants. Chosen from among candidates proposed by various Peace Movements of numerous nations, the public prosecutors will be appointed by the Board of Trustees.

The Tribunal's prosecution gathers and examines evidence transmitted to them originating from public and other sources and through witness testimony.

If the available evidence is sufficient to warrant a public indictment, for all persons considered suspects (further as ,,defendants") of having participated in the commission of those crimes in the sense of the terms of these Statutes will have a uniform indictment formulated and handed down.

This indictment will be simultaneously forwarded to the indicted parties and rendered public; the publication of the indictment will be considered also as the act of being forwarded to the defendants.

Also simultaneous to its being published the indictment will be transmitted to the ad-hoc International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in the form of an application for a penal warrant.

The public hearing will take place from June 2. through June 3. 2000 .

Time and place of the hearing will be transmitted to the defendants at least one month in advance, as well as publicly announced.

The defendants are entitled to attend the public hearings and/or to mandate a person of their choice and confidence who has a university diploma in law to represent their interests in the proceedings.

The defendants are free to defend themselves against the accusations raised against them, particularly to submit exonerating evidence or to demand through their representatives hearings of exonerating evidence.

The defendants and their representatives are free to interrogate witnesses and experts. These interrogations must have reached the Tribunal two weeks before the public hearing. Interrogations submitted later are not required to be taken into consideration.

The public hearing begins with the opening of the session by the presiding Chairperson, the introduction of the panel members of the Tribunal, the designation of the case and establishment of the presence or absence of the Defendants or their representatives.

In the case of their absence, the Tribunal reassures itself that they were reliably or publicly informed of the time and place of the hearing, and whether the defendants have commissioned and mandated someone to represent them. The defendant can be tried and convicted in absentia.

Thereafter the public indictment will be read and the session convened.

The chairperson of the Tribunal presides over the hearing. He/She grants the right to speak, the chairperson may, if necessary, limit the speaking time and if abused withdraw the right to speak. The chairperson maintains order in the Tribunal and may expel persons from its proceedings.

If the defendants or their representatives are present, they will be the first to be granted the possibility to speak.

The Tribunal examines evidence on all points of the public indictment.

A particular aspect of the evidentiary hearing is the reading of official documents, i.e. government declarations, decisions of the North Atlantic Council, statements from mandated representatives of government, the NATO commands ... Reading of generally accessible documents can be replaced by documents explicitly referring to the defendant, it is at the Tribunal's discretion to have excerpts from documents read.

An examination of evidence will not take place where facts are obvious.

To meet the demands of the situation or upon demand, experts will be heard, expertise reports submitted by them will be entered into evidence and examined.

The Tribunal can grant the oral reading of witness testimony, if the testimony is a deposition before a judge or has been notarized. The working languages of the Tribunal are English, Russian, and French.

The Tribunal ensures the necessary simultaneous translations.

The witnesses should declare that their declarations are voluntary and without any form of intimidation; that they tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth;

the experts should declare that their expertise reports are made to the best of their knowledge and in good conscience;

Translators and interpreters should declare that they will fulfill their work conscientiously and in an nonpartisan manner and in respect of the confidentiality of their task.

Following closure of the evidentiary hearing the public prosecutor will be allowed to present their case followed by the defendants or their representatives. Replying is allowed.

The defendants or their representatives have the last say.

The deliberation of the results of the evidentiary hearing by the panel members will be done in secret. The Tribunal will arrive at a verdict of its own free convictions solely on the basis of the results of the evidentiary hearing.

The verdict will be reached with a majority vote among the recognized members of the panel of the Tribunal.

The verdict of the Tribunal panel will be publicly announced.

The verdict relates to the single points of the public indictment and will be ,,guilty" or ,,not guilty".

The decision will be orally justified and explained.

A written justification will be sent to the defendant or their representatives and published; dissenting opinions of individual members of the panel will be enclosed.

Article 18

An official appellate procedure has not been planned, nevertheless the defendants or their representatives can enter a remonstrance concerning the verdict of the panel either before the Tribunal itself or publicly. The Tribunal can reconvene the hearing of evidence if the remonstrance so merits.

The members of the Tribunal as well as the public prosecutor are carrying out their tasks on an unpaid voluntary basis. The Tribunal charges no fees. Expenses will not be paid to anyone