Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations, Zlatko Lagumdžija, requested that the Hague archives be located in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This is actually the request of the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, who yesterday conveyed Lagumdžija to the president of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts (IRMCT), Graciela Gatti Santana.
Today, she will present the annual report on the work of this mechanism to the UN General Assembly, announced the Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN.
Judge Gatti Santana informed Lagumdžija about the progress in the execution of the mandate of the Mechanism, the continuous efforts to bring the residual functions and activities of the Mechanism to an efficient and timely end, including not only judicial activities in active cases, but also administrative functions, as well as the longer-term planning of the next phase in its action.
These long-term functions, in addition to continued judicial activity, include monitoring cases referred to states, witness protection, enforcement of sanctions, archive management and assistance to national jurisdictions.
Lagumdžija thanked and expressed support for the work of the Mechanism, stressing that the next phase in its work is equally important for the legacy of these tribunals and the preservation of established and recorded events, both in Rwanda and in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
They agree that the issue of archives is one of the key elements in that process and an adequate solution that will speed up the process of digitizing archives and thus ensure their preservation and protection, as well as access for judicial, educational, research and historical purposes.
In this regard, he also presented to the President Gatti Santana the reasons why these issues should be resolved quickly, especially taking into account Bećirović’s position and request that it is essential that the archives be located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced in to the UN.
