Statement by the Republic of Slovenia at the briefing on the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

Thank you President.

I would like to thank the President of the Mechanism Judge Gatti Santana and Prosecutor Brammertz for the detailed progress reports submitted to the Council and for their briefings today. I also welcome the Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Rwanda and Serbia to the meeting.

Mr. President,

I will start by reiterating Slovenia’s continued support for the work of the Residual Mechanism. Its work, despite being in its residual phase, remains crucial for the fight against impunity.

Mr. President,

We note the progress made by the Mechanism during the review period in exercising its residual judicial activities and maintaining of the archives. We welcome the continued support the Prosecutor is offering to national authorities which are now primarily responsible for prosecuting perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Rwanda and in the countries of former Yugoslavia. There are still thousands of open cases before national courts. Therefore, the support and assistance of the Mechanism to the national jurisdictions needs to remain priority.

The Mechanism is now a truly residual institution. Its leadership has demonstrated its commitment and determination in adequately planning for the future, including with the document titled Framework of Operations to Complete Functions.

This document, together with the reports of the Secretary-General to be prepared by the end of 2025, will guide the Security Council in its decision on the final completion of the Mechanism and on the transfer of the remaining residual functions. Because the completion of the Mechanism does not mean the completion of its residual functions.

The Security Council will have to decide on the continued supervision of the enforcement of sentences, continued support to national jurisdictions, continued protection of victims and witnesses, on monitoring of cases referred to national jurisdictions and on managing the archives of the Mechanism and its predecessors.

Mr. President,

The completion and fulfillment of the mandate of the Mechanism also depends on the cooperation of Member States. Therefore, we urge all States to comply with their obligations under international law, the UN Charter and the relevant Security Council resolutions and to cooperate fully with the Mechanism. We also urge all states to cooperate with each other in order to ensure the effective proceedings against the perpetrators and we welcome Prosecutor’s efforts in this regard.

Mr. President,

The legacy of the Mechanism and the legacy of its predecessors, the ICTR and the ICTY, will remain. Both tribunals and the Mechanism crucially contributed to the development of international criminal justice system; they gave a standing and a voice to thousands of victims, survivors and witnesses who showed immense courage and contributed to the justice process. They established the facts that genocide happened, war crimes and crimes against humanity happened. These facts will remain long after all perpetrators and victims are gone. Only by knowing the history, we can learn from it and ensure it does not repeat. Any attempt of genocide denial, any attempt of glorification of war criminals shows how important this is. History should be a deterrent of any such attempts.

And lastly, Mr. President, both tribunals and the Mechanism established and confirmed that all perpetrators of most heinous international crimes can and will be held accountable, despite their position or the time it takes.

I thank you.

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