Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / RESIDUAL MECHANISM CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS
STORY: UN / RESIDUAL MECHANISM CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS
TRT: 02:58
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 JUNE 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
11 JUNE 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals:
“The very mention of “Srebrenica” evokes forced displacement, mass execution, and enduring grief – a grief carried by the survivors, including the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters who continue to seek justice, truth, and remembrance.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals:
“The issue of State cooperation remains pivotal not only to the Mechanism’s efforts to reduce costs and complete key functions but to fulfilling the humanitarian principles upon which international criminal justice is founded. One example is the ongoing situation of Mr. Félicien Kabuga. Though his trial has been indefinitely stayed, he remains detained in the Mechanism’s Detention Unit in The Hague in the absence of a State for his provisional release.”
6. Med shot, Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals:
“The adjudication of applications for pardon, commutation of sentence, or early release entails considerations of fundamental importance to the justice cycle that may be jeopardized if dispersed to various national jurisdictions. Transferring this activity would result in unequal treatment of the Mechanism’s more than 40 convicted persons, given the significant disparities in domestic regulations.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals:
“As we near the 30th commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide, we are reminded that justice is not a finite endeavor; it is a continuous commitment. The Mechanism stands as a guardian of this commitment, through preserving the legal truths established by the Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, ensuring accountability in line with due process, and affirming the dignity of victims and survivors.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals:
“After concluding our fugitive tracking work, the Government of Rwanda requested my Office to provide more support to its efforts to account for the more than 1,000 fugitive genocidaires still at large. I am pleased to report that this work is already making significant progress. Earlier this week, we announced with the Prosecutor General of Rwanda that our joint efforts have resulted in 65 fugitive files being closed. This notably includes a number of fugitives who we successfully located. We were also able to identify fugitives whose cases have been processed, whether through extradition or prosecutions in the countries where they reside. Finally, we were able to determine that some fugitives are deceased.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
“Justice is not a finite endeavor; it is a continuous commitment,” said Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, as the Security Council marked the approaching 30th anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
Addressing Council members, Gatti Santana reflected on the massacre of nearly 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys and the forcible displacement of tens of thousands more. “The very mention of ‘Srebrenica’ evokes forced displacement, mass execution, and enduring grief – a grief carried by the survivors, including the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters who continue to seek justice, truth, and remembrance,” she said.
Gatti Santana emphasized the ongoing role of the Mechanism in upholding international justice, particularly as it navigates complex issues of sentence enforcement. “The adjudication of applications for pardon, commutation of sentence, or early release entails considerations of fundamental importance to the justice cycle that may be jeopardized if dispersed to various national jurisdictions,” she warned. “Transferring this activity would result in unequal treatment of the Mechanism’s more than 40 convicted persons, given the significant disparities in domestic regulations.”
She also cited challenges linked to state cooperation, referencing the case of Félicien Kabuga, whose trial was indefinitely stayed due to health issues. “Though his trial has been indefinitely stayed, he remains detained in the Mechanism’s Detention Unit in The Hague in the absence of a State for his provisional release,” Gatti Santana said.
Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz updated the Council on fugitive tracking efforts in cooperation with Rwanda. “Earlier this week, we announced with the Prosecutor General of Rwanda that our joint efforts have resulted in 65 fugitive files being closed,” he said. This includes individuals who have been located, prosecuted, or determined to be deceased. “This work is already making significant progress,” he added.
As the Mechanism continues to carry out its functions, Gatti Santana stressed the need to safeguard its core responsibilities, “Our work honors the loss and resilience of those who endured unimaginable suffering,” she said, “and reflects the international community’s resolve to confront impunity with principle and perseverance.”
Download
There is no media available to download.
