United Nations Detention Unit
The United Nations Detention Unit , also known as the ICC Detention Center or, after its establishment, initially as the ICTY Detention Unit and mostly in the German-speaking media as the UN prison , has been a detention facility under the responsibility of the United Nations (UN) in the Scheveningen district of the Netherlands since 1994 City of The Hague . It is part of the international criminal law system established in the 1990s for the legal prosecution of genocide , crimes against humanity and war crimes . Defendants from the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) are detained in the institution until the judgment is reached and during an appeal, as well as convicts from the International Criminal Court for Rwanda (ICTR) during their appeal hearing.
Legal background
The legal basis for the establishment and operation of the United Nations Detention Unit is the statute of the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was passed in 1993 with Resolution 893 of the UN Security Council, as well as the procedural rules adopted by the Court of Justice on this basis. The facility, which has existed since 1994, is used to accommodate defendants from the ICTY and the International Criminal Court (ICC) until a judgment has been reached, as well as those convicted of these two courts until the appeal proceedings have been concluded. Also convicts of the International Criminal Court for Rwanda (ICTR) are accommodated here during their appeals hearing , as the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY and the ICTR is a joint institution of both courts. After a final conviction of imprisonment , detention takes place in other prisons in various countries that cooperate with the United Nations in this regard. However, some defendants who were sentenced to shorter prison terms have served their entire sentence in the United Nations Detention Unit , taking into account the length of their pre- trial detention.
Location and facilities
The United Nations Detention Unit is around three kilometers from the ICTY and is located in a separate area of the Penitentiaire Inrichting Haaglanden prison complex of the Dutch judicial system in Scheveningen , for which the United Nations has concluded a license agreement with the government of the country and pays rent accordingly. The facility can accommodate a maximum of 84 people in single cells, each 15 square meters in size. The facilities in the cells include a bed , a desk , shelves , a cupboard , a toilet and wash basin , a television set and technical facilities for communicating with the guards. In addition to access to books , newspapers and magazines , common rooms and a kitchen , board games , various sporting and artistic activities and the use of entertainment technology and computers without internet access , employment opportunities also include, for example, English language courses , which are generally well attended are.
The inmates can move around and occupy themselves almost freely on their level during the day, courtyard walks are allowed for one hour a day. The range of religious services includes access to Catholic , Christian Orthodox and Muslim clergy and ceremonies. Defendants who defend themselves have the right to use additional facilities such as the ability to send and receive faxes under surveillance . The equipment and accommodation in the United Nations Detention Unit , which appears to be comfortable compared to other prisons, is due to the presumption of innocence , which applies until a final conviction, as well as the advanced age of most of the accused and the experience of the occurrence of depression after the arrival of the Justified prisoners. The facility has its own hospital ward with appropriate specialist staff, and in the event of serious medical problems, those affected are transferred to a hospital in The Hague .
Staff and inmates
The security staff of the United Nations Detention Unit are largely recruited from employees of the Dutch penal system and specially trained for their work in the facility. Former Irish army officer Tim McFadden has been in charge since 1997 , after having worked in Irish prisons and various assignments for the United Nations peacekeeping forces, he had already taken over the establishment and management of the ICTR's pre-trial detention center.
The accused are allowed to receive family or private visitors as well as diplomatic and legal assistance. The right to visits for diplomatic or legal reasons is not limited and is only subject to the restrictions in terms of time and confidential communication due to the spatial possibilities of the facility. In addition, the detainees are regularly visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which, if necessary, also supports their families with organizational and financial support.
The inmates, whose average age was around 57 in mid-2008, are accommodated without any separation according to national or ethnic origin or religious aspects. The first inmate in the United Nations Detention Unit from April 1995 was Duško Tadić , who was indicted before the ICTY, and the first inmate under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court was the Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga from March 2006 . Since the establishment of the facility, a total of more than 130 people have been accommodated there. Among the most famous inmates were the former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević , who died during his imprisonment, as well as the ex-President of Liberia Charles Taylor , who was accused for his involvement in the civil war in Sierra Leone , whose trial in The Hague for security reasons and not like the other trials of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown .
literature
- Nancy Grosselfinger: The United Nations Detention Unit. In: Peter J. van Krieken, David McKay: The Hague: Legal Capital of the World. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005, ISBN 9-06-704185-8 , pp. 317-344
Web links
- Julian Davis Mortenson, Slate Magazine : Inside the United Nations Detention Unit. Article from January 10, 2006
- ICTY - Detention More pictures and video (English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 6 ′ 36 ″ N , 4 ° 18 ′ 5 ″ E