www.ndu.edu/inss TRANSATLANTIC CURRENT No. 4 1 F ollowing the wars in the Balkans, the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- tion (NATO) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) established solid cooperation, whereby NATO sup- ported ICTY in its quest to bring persons indicted for war crimes (PIFWCs) to justice. NATO Headquarters has provided substantial material used as evidence in various ICTY cases. NATO members have participated as witnesses to ICTY. Personnel of the NATO-led operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 as well as Kosovo, 2 have detained and handed PIFWCs over to ICTY personnel who ar- rested them based on indictments issued by the tribunal’s prosecutor. 3 Te solid working relationship, while possibly temporarily challenged, was not put in serious jeopardy when the ICTY prosecutor investigated NATO’s conduct of operations during Operation Allied Force (also known as the Kosovo Air Campaign). Te in- vestigation did later clear NATO of the allegations of war crimes levied against it. 4 War Crimes in NATO’s Current Theaters? Te International Criminal Court (ICC) might be interested in cooperation of a similar nature since it is investigating the situation in at least one theater where NATO has led an international military operation and is reportedly conducting preliminary examinations regarding other theaters where NATO currently de- ploys forces. On the one hand, the ICC prosecutor was reported to have opened a preliminary fle regarding Afghanistan 5 and earlier conducted a preliminary exam- ination regarding Iraq. 6 For the purpose of analyzing the seriousness of any allega- tions that lead to opening these fles, the ICC prosecutor may seek information from appropriate sources, including international organizations. 7 Nothing, howev- er, is publicly known as to whether some interaction between NATO and the ICC followed suit. On the other hand, the possible investigation of NATO’s conduct of operations regarding Libya 8 —as requested by the lawyer of Colonel Muammar NATO and the ICC: Time for Cooperation? by Ulf Haeussler TransaTlanTic cURRENT National Defense University About the Author Ulf Haeussler is the NATO Fellow in the Center for Transatlantic Security Studies, Institute for National Strategic Studies, at the National Defense University. Key Points ◆ ◆ The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened a couple of preliminary examinations regarding theaters of NATO-led operations. ◆ ◆ The NATO track record regarding its cooperation with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is positive. ◆ ◆ NATO may want to consider developing a similarly positive working relationship with the ICC prosecutor based on mutual goodwill and respect, and on an ad hoc basis. March 2012 CENTER FOR TRANSATLANTIC SECURITY STUDIES