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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
RWANDA: ICG calls for pragmatism in completing work of ICTR
NAIROBI, 2 October 2003 (IRIN) - The International Crisis Group (ICG) has called upon the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to adopt a pragmatic approach to overcome the challenges it faces in completing its mission by 2008.
In a new report, "The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: Time for Pragmatism", the conflict prevention think-tank said the court faced three primary challenges: first, to organise a programme of investigations that would give it a realistic chance to finish proceedings by 2008; second, to set up a timetable for cases that reflected its priorities, including the need for greater efficiency; and third, to resist pressure from the Rwandan government, which it said had attempted to "stymie any possibility that members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) would be tried".
ICG said that the new president, Judge Erik Mose, who presented a final four-year trial calendar to the UN General Assembly in August, "show[ed] a welcome sense of responsibility".
"The judges and the court must prove their total commitment to this process," it said. "Reform of the registry’s management of defence costs has also become vital."
The ICG said a "deadly overburdening" of the tribunal’s workload had been avoided, as 82 people - including the main suspected perpetrators - had already been indicted. It urged the court "to show the courage to put a stop to new cases", as it did not have the capacity to deal with any more.
"The cold reality is that the ICTR needs to be a good deal more efficient in handling trials," ICG said. "Among other things, it should maintain its priority of judging the main suspects from the army and the 1994 government, whose trials have been set to begin in the last three months of 2003."
ICG said that the departure of Carla del Ponte as prosecutor and her replacement by Hassan Jallow did not change the court’s priorities.
"It needs to complete the outstanding cases and re-launch its enquiries into the war crimes presumed to have been committed by the RPA, which have been suspended for more than a year," it said.
While the departure of del Ponte meant that there would probably never be a trial of the RPA in Arusha, ICG said this did not absolve the prosecutor's office of its responsibilities.
"The Rwandan government is offering, in effect, no guarantee that justice will be rendered for crimes committed by the RPA," it said. "It is of the highest importance, therefore, that the ICTR resumes outside the country its investigation into the crimes allegedly committed by the RPA and does not set an end date to this investigation."
The report's recommendations to the judges, prosecutor's office and registry of the ICTR, as well as to the Rwandan government and the UN Security Council, are available at www.crisisweb.org
The complete report, available only in French at present, can be found at www.crisisweb.org pdf Format
The UN Security Council created the ICTR by resolution 955 of 8 November 1994 for the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda between 1 January and 31 December 1994. It is also authorised to deal with the prosecution of Rwandan citizens responsible for genocide and other such violations of international law committed in the territory of neighbouring states during the same period.
[For more on the ICTR, go to www.ictr.org]
Theme(s): (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
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