S/2020/602 Security Council

In accordance with the procedure agreed upon by the members of the Security Council in the light of the extraordinary circumstances caused by the coronavirus disease pandemic, and as set out in the letter dated 27 March 2020 from the President of the Security Council addressed to all members of the Council (S/2020/253), I would like to draw your attention to the following. The members of the Council have discussed a draft resolution, submitted by Viet Nam, in connection with the agenda item “International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals”. That draft resolution has been put in blue (S/2020/579, see enclosure). In my capacity as President of the Security Council, I hereby put the above- mentioned draft resolution to a vote. The non-extendable 24-hour voting period for that draft resolution will begin at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, 24 June 2020 and expire at 2 p.m. on Thursday, 25 June 2020. Please submit your vote (in favour, against or abstention) on that draft resolution and possible explanation of vote by sending to the Director of the Security Council Affairs Division of the Secretariat (egian@un.org) a letter signed by the Permanent Representative or Chargé d’affaires a.i. within the non-extendable 24-hour voting period set out above. It is my intention to circulate a letter listing the outcome of the vote within three hours of the conclusion of the 24-hour voting period. I also intend to convene a video-teleconference of the Security Council to announce the outcome of the vote shortly after the conclusion of the voting period, on the afternoon of Thursday, 25 June 2020.

The Russian delegation has consistently abstained in the voting on draft resolutions on the extension of the work of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for further two-year periods as an outcome of its review by the Security Council. The reason is the unsatisfactory work of that body, which continues not to allow the Council to proceed with its legal closure. One of the major problems, which our delegation has referred to on numerous occasions, is the absence of a judicial planning system. Unfortunately, the Residual Mechanism inherited this flaw from other criminal tribunals created by the Security Council. There is a separate provision on this point in resolution 2529 (2020). The Residual Mechanism must produce “clear and focused projections of completion timelines at the earliest stage possible and disciplined adherence thereto” ( para. 9). Our country is concerned with the protection of rights of persons detained under the authority of the Mechanism, in particular the quality and timeliness of the medical care provided to them. In the past, we repeatedly urged the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to conduct a serious inquiry into Ratko Mladić’s treatment and, if it was beyond the prison doctors’ capabilities to treat him, to temporarily release him for treatment in Russia, with our comprehensive guarantees. The Tribunal cynically refused to grant the motion of the accused’s lawyers. Serbia’s guarantees were also rejected. The ICTY is no longer in existence, but the problem persists. The members of the Security Council are well aware of it since the issue has been brought to their attention. For several months now, we have been witnessing their struggle with administering the United Nations penitentiary institution in order to ensure appropriate medical care to an individual whose health is rapidly deteriorating. Accordingly, a new provision has been included in resolution 2529 (2020), which underlines the importance of ensuring the rights of persons detained pursuant to the authority of the Mechanism, including those related to health care. We expect the Mechanism to fully implement the terms of this provision. We also expect the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) to monitor the implementation of the provision, and we are looking forward to receiving information on its implementation in the next OIOS report on the work of the Mechanism.