Amnesty welcomes Karadzic arrest, urges tribunal rethink

Amnesty International said Tuesday the capture of Radovan Karadzic was "a major victory" but called on the UN Security Council to reconsider the cut-off point for the tribunal that will consider his fate.

Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader wanted over alleged genocide, was captured on Monday night after more than a decade on the run and now faces transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

The London-based human rights group said it was essential that the ICTY, which was set up by the UN Security Council in 1993, had sufficient time and resources to establish the truth and deliver justice in his and other cases.

"The UN Security Council must review the arbitrary deadline of 2010 set for the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to complete its cases," Amnesty said in a statement.

The ICTY is mandated to complete its work in 2010 but its spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic told AFP Tuesday that she understood the deadline was only relevant to individuals in custody when it was set.

"Any appeal that comes afterwards could go on, also trials that didn't exist back then," she added.

Amnesty said there were still ongoing proceedings against 46 people including Karadzic's former military commander Ratko Mladic at the tribunal.

"The court must be given the necessary time to process all these cases," Amnesty said.

The statement hailed the arrest of Karadzic as "a major victory", noting that Amnesty had been calling for his arrest for a decade.

(Agencies)