Key note address - Interpol conference on war crime

Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope that some of you were in Oslo yesterday, and had the opportunity to observe the celebrations of our National Day. The way we celebrate this day, focusing on our youngest children - not on the armed forces or the politicians, reflects the peace and stability we are so privileged to enjoy in this country.

However, despite the fact that Norway belongs to a peaceful region, we are deeply engaged in the question raised in this conference: How can we fight genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in a more efficient manner?

We are facing organisational and economic challenges:

• How do we establish international cooperation mechanisms in order to improve investigation and prosecution?
• How many international tribunals can we create?
• Who is willing to pay the high price that must be paid when we want to achieve justice on international level?

We are facing legal challenges, concerning extradition, jurisdiction, and mutual legal assistance, to mention a few.

We are facing challenges concerning priority: can we settle for prosecuting the brutal guards and torturers, and leave the political and military leaders alone? Or the other way around, can we target only the ones responsible on the political level and let the soldiers who pulled the trigger on unarmed civilians go free?

Finally, we are facing political challenges - in all shapes and figures, sometimes blending with the other challenges.

However, despite all the challenges, I am convinced that we have no other choice but to strengthen our regional cooperation and to develop more efficient supranational instruments if we shall succeed in our struggle against these crimes.

Norway has for many years been a party to the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court, ICC. We are following the work of the court with high expectations.

Let me comment on the most recent developments concerning ICC. In March this year, ICC suddenly became the centre of international attention with the issuing of the warrant of arrest for mr. Omar Al Bashir, the president of the Republic of Sudan. This warrant is indeed chilling reading. The court has found reasonable grounds to believe that the president is criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, including acts of murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape.

The warrant highlighted many of the political challenges we face today.

War crimes are committed all over the world, and countries are divided in the question of which of these crimes that should be dealt with.

Indeed, when the warrant for the arrest for President al Bashir was issued, voices were heard also in Norway suggesting that he should not have been put under investigation, in order to avoid disturbing what was described as positive political developments in Sudan. In other countries, it obviously came as a shock to many that a warrant of arrest could be issued against a head of state.

ICC´s  decision was important to clarify that nobody can stand above international law when it comes to war crimes.

Ladies and gentlemen, following Norway´s ratification of the Rome Statute, we saw a need to improve our national legislation concerning genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Indeed, we experienced that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was unable to transfer a case concerning genocide to Norwegian courts, because we lacked a specific article in our penal code.

We also realized that an increasing number of refugees and immigrants coming to Norway from all over the world, implied that war criminals could be present in our country. The international tribunals could not be expected to deal with cases brought to light in Norway.

Many of the asylum seekers, suspected of being war criminals, could not be returned to the country they came from. Norway will not extradite suspects to a country where they risk the death penalty, or where they can be subjected to torture or inhuman treatment. In those cases, we had to be prepared to carry out investigations ourselves.

So, we started a process to change our laws. And I am pleased to say that one year ago, a completely new chapter concerning genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes was added to our penal code. Now, we have the necessary tools to open a case when suspected war criminals are identified in Norway. International tribunals also have the possibility to transfer proceedings to Norway.

According to the new penal code, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years can be handed out for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. For the most serious cases there is no period of limitation. The maximum penalty in Norway is otherwise imprisonment up to 21 years. So we have made notable exceptions for these exceptional crimes.

The use of child soldiers is an unbearable practice. We chose to make it a crime to recruit or use children under the age of 18 in the armed forces. International requirements sets the age limit at 15 years, but for us it was important to underline that we wish to influence the development of international law on this matter.

Furthermore, we had to make sure that the Norwegian law enforcement was prepared and capable of investigating cases of war crimes.

In 2005, we therefore established a specialized law enforcement unit, where investigators and prosecutors now work in close cooperation. We have steadily added more manpower to this unit, to make sure that they can carry out their tasks.

There is now an ongoing court case connected to the war in the former Yugoslavia, where sentence was passed in the local court of Oslo last year. The case will stand before the court of appeal this autumn. Whatever the final outcome of the case, we can already conclude that our special unit has been capable of conducting a broad and difficult investigation linked to events that took place many years ago during wartime in the former Yugoslavia. I see this as a major achievement, and proof that we can put action behind our words.

We were all deeply shocked by the atrocities carried out during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. Norway was a strong supporter of the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in 1993.

The lessons learnt from the work done by the Yugoslavia tribunal have been important for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, and for the other special tribunals as well.

Looking back, we can see that major achievements were made despite severe challenges, regarding the office of the prosecution, the chambers and the registry.

The first investigators in ICTY had a difficult job, starting from scratch. Since they had no access to the relevant crime scenes, the tribunal had to rely on cooperation from national governments in order to collect evidence.

However, all from the beginning they faced hostility from several of the authorities they were supposed to cooperate with. They had to take into account that the rules of procedure and evidence could be changed before cases were finalized.

Yet, over the years, the results started coming. Suspects were tracked down and arrested, they were put before the court, and they were being sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The court produced verdicts and valuable documentation about the atrocities carried out. ICTY brought a sense of justice to thousands of victims across the region.

Norway has supported the work of ICTY in many ways over the years. Several Norwegians have worked for the various parts of the court. We are also one of ten countries which have an agreement with the court, allowing for the transfer to Norway of convicted persons.

So far, five prisoners have been transferred to Norway to serve their sentences. Three of them are still in prison. They are serving sentences of 15, 17 and 20 years.

We have stated to the International Criminal Court that we are willing to receive convicted persons as well, and are negotiating an agreement about this matter.

Ladies and gentlemen, the way we organise the fight against war crimes is essential, both on the national and the international level. There is an urgent need to identify ways to improve cooperation between relevant actors.

The regional cooperation is a crucial point.  In the Nordic countries, we are currently discussing the possibility of establishing a joint coordinating investigation body for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The proposal was recently set forward in a report about the Nordic foreign- and defence cooperation.

I believe that all the Nordic countries would benefit from such a body. The mutual advantages are obvious, because these cases that are so complicated both to investigate and to prosecute.

War crimes do not know any national barriers. Therefore, we need to exceed the national borders and establish more supranational cooperation, to fight these crimes.

We need to move forward at a rapid pace. We need to make sure that there are no safe havens for war criminals. We need strong law enforcement units who can work in effective ways across borders. We need to assist and protect the victims who are willing to give evidence. We need national courts and international tribunals that are fully able to function in efficient ways. And we need to share knowledge and experiences, as you all will be doing during the coming three days.

We need above all to remind ourselves about the importance of our tasks. Our efforts are done to prevent future outbreaks of horror and brutality.

I would like to end with a quote from the statement made by Dragan Obrenovic during his sentencing hearing at the international tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (merknad ang referanse: sitatet ligger åpent på nettstedet til den internasjonale domstolen). Mr. Obrenovic was one of the accused who admitted his guilt and provided valuable insider military information to the investigators. He is now serving his sentence here in Norway.

He said: “I will be happy if my testimony helps the families of the victims, if I can spare them having to testify again and relive the horrors and the pain during their testimony. It is my wish that my testimony should help prevent this ever happening again, not just in Bosnia, but anywhere in the world.”

I wish you all good luck with the massive tasks that lie ahead of us all. Thank you.