[Source: “Agreement Between the ICRC and the ICTY Concerning Persons Awaiting Trials Before the Tribunals”, IRRC, No. 311, 1996, pp. 238-242]
Letter from Antonio Cassese,
President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,
to Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the
International Committee of the Red Cross,
of 28 April 1995
Dear President,
I have the honour to refer to resolution 827 (1993) of 25 May 1993 by which the Security Council established the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 (the “Tribunal”).
I also have the honour to refer to the Rules of Procedure and Evidence adopted by the Judges of the Tribunal in February 1994, as subsequently amended, and in particular to Rule 24(v) which provides that the Judges of the Tribunal shall determine or supervise the conditions of detention.
I further have the honour to refer to the Rules Governing the Detention of Persons Awaiting Trial or Appeal before the Tribunal or Otherwise Detained on the Authority of the Tribunal (the “Rules of Detention”). Rule 6 of the Rules of Detention provides for regular and unannounced inspections of the detention unit by qualified and experienced inspectors appointed by the Tribunal, to examine the manner in which detainees are treated.
With reference to these legal provisions and to our previous discussions, I propose that the International Committee of the Red Cross (the “ICRC”), being an independent and impartial humanitarian organization of long-standing experience in inspecting conditions of detention in all kinds of armed conflicts and internal strife throughout the world, undertake, in accordance with the modalities set out below, the inspection of conditions of detention and the treatment of persons awaiting trial or appeal before the Tribunal or otherwise detained on the authority of the Tribunal in the Penitentiary Complex or in the holding cells located at the premises of the Tribunal (the “Detention Unit”).
If the above provisions meet with your approval, I would propose that this letter and your reply thereto constitute an Agreement between the Tribunal and the ICRC on inspection of conditions of detention of persons held in the Detention Unit, with immediate effect.
Accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.
(signature)
Letter from Cornelio Sommaruga,
President of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
to Antonio Cassese, President of the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia, 5 May 1995
Dear President,
I have the honour to refer to your letter of 28 April 1995 regarding visits of the International Committee of the Red Cross (the “ICRC”) to detainees held under the authority of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“the Tribunal”).
It is indeed within the mandate of the ICRC to visit persons detained in relation to armed conflicts and internal strife. Therefore, the ICRC is ready to carry out visits to detainees held under the authority of the Tribunal in its Detention Unit in accordance with the conditions outlined in your letter of 28 April 1995. Those conditions correspond to the traditional modalities under which the ICRC assesses the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees, in particular by interviewing them in private, and makes the appropriate recommendations to the authorities concerned.
As you proposed, our respective letters shall constitute with immediate effect an agreement between the Tribunal and the ICRC on the inspection of the conditions of detention and treatment of persons held in the Detention Unit. I noted that the ICRC will be provided with the necessary facilities, including the notification of the detention of persons.
Our detention division will contact the Commanding Officer and the Registrar of the Tribunal to arrange details of the visits.
On behalf of the ICRC, I thank you for your support for the humanitarian activities of the ICRC.
Trusting in the success of the Tribunal’s endeavour to play an essential role to improve respect for international humanitarian law, I remain,
Yours very respectfully,
(signature)