International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
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International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Arusha International Conference Centre
P.O. Box 6016, Arusha, Tanzania
Telephone: +255 27 2505000 / 2565062 / +1 2129632850
Fax: +255 27 250 4000 / 4373 or +1 212 963 2848
Email: ictr-press@un.org
Website: http://www.ictr.org
Office of the Tribunal, Kigali
Amahoro Hotel
P.O. Box 749, Kigali, Rwanda
Telephone: +250 84266 / +1 (212) 963 9906
Fax: +1 (212) 963 4001
The ICTR Office, The Hague
Churchillplein 1
2517 JW, The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 512 5027
Fax: +31 (0)70 512 8280 or 8932
Description
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was created by the Security Council resolution 955 of 8 November 1994, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, with a view to contributing to the process of national reconciliation in Rwanda and to the maintenance of peace in the region. The ICTR’s role is to prosecute those responsible for the Rwandan genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994. It also deals 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.
The Tribunal consists of three organs: the Chambers and Appeals Chamber; the Office of the Prosecutor, in charge of investigations and prosecutions; and the Registry, responsible for providing overall judicial and administrative support to the Chambers and the Prosecutor. The ICTR’s main funder is the United Nations. For 2006-2007, its operational budget was US$269,758,400.
Track Record
The first trial at the ICTR began in January 1997. As at June 2007, the ICTR had handed down 27 judgments involving 33 accused persons that included one Prime Minister, four Ministers, one Prefect, six Bourgmestres and others, holding leadership positions during the genocide of 1994. In addition, nine trials were in progress as at June 2007, involving a total of 22 accused, while 8 detainees were awaiting trial.
The ICTR has so far secured the arrest of over 70 individuals accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The Prosecutor has stepped up his efforts to track down and bring to justice a list of remaining fugitives. Some 30 cases have been handed over by the Tribunal for prosecution before Rwandan national courts, while negotiations are underway to transfer 15 cases from Tribunal to national jurisdiction.
Jurisprudence: The Akayesu case decided by the ICTR in 1998 was the first in which an international tribunal was called upon to interpret the definition of genocide as defined in the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). The Chamber also defined the crime of rape. It underscored the fact that rape and sexual violence may constitute genocide in the same way as any other act of serious bodily or mental harm, as long as such acts were committed with the intent to destroy a particular group targeted as such.
The guilty plea and subsequent conviction of Jean Kambanda, former Prime Minister of Rwanda, set a number of precedents. This was the first time that an accused person acknowledged his guilt for the crime of genocide before an international criminal tribunal. It was also the first time that a head of government was convicted for the crime of genocide.
The 2003 ICTR “Media Case” was the first judgment since the conviction of Julius Streicher at Nuremberg after World War II in which the role of the media was examined in the context of international criminal justice.
ICTR has also laid down legal principals in international criminal justice, which will serve as precedents for other International Criminal Tribunals and for courts all over the world. Finally, ICTR pioneered advocacy for victim-oriented restitutive justice in International Criminal law - a concept which has been included in the statute of the International Criminal Court.
International Co-operation with the Tribunal: The ICTR Statute requires United Nations Member States to co-operate with the Tribunal’s investigations and the prosecution of accused persons, by complying with the Tribunal’s orders or requests to identify, arrest, detain and surrender them to the Tribunal. International co-operation with ICTR regarding witnesses has been outstanding given that many of the witnesses did not have valid legal status or documents in their countries of residence. Through development of special travel documents by their host countries, witnesses have been able to travel to Arusha to give testimony at trials and then return to their host countries.
Governments have also shown co-operation in terms of the enforcement of sentences. On 12 February 1999, the Registrar of the Tribunal and the Government of Mali signed an agreement on the enforcement of the Tribunal’s sentences, making Mali the first country to provide prison facilities. The Republic of Benin signed the agreement on 26 August 1999, and The Kingdom of Swaziland signed it on 30 August 2000. On 14 March 2003, France became the fourth country to sign the agreement, followed by Italy and Sweden.
Member States have also co-operated with the Tribunal by providing financial assistance, and by the end of 1998, cash contributions to the Voluntary Trust Fund amounted to $7,571,998. These funds supplement the regular budgetary funds of the Tribunal for activities in strategic areas such as witness support, investigations, the transfer of detainees from custody in various countries to the United Nations Detention Facilities in Arusha.
Witness Support and Protection at ICTR: In spite of the security situation in the countries of residence for some of the witnesses and the complexity of making travel arrangements in the Great Lakes Region, the Witnesses and Victims Support section has been able to facilitate the travel of around 250 witnesses (Prosecution and Defence) to Arusha from more than 15 African, European and American countries. A post-trial witness program has facilitated relocation of more than 20 witnesses thought to be particularly at risk. Some of them have been relocated to countries outside Rwanda while others have been relocated within Rwanda.
ICTR Outreach Program: At present, the Information Centre, Umusanzu mu Bwiyunge in Kigali receives around 100 visitors per day, including students, journalists, civil servants, judges, lawyers and ordinary citizens. The Centre also disseminates ICTR’s public information documents to approximately 100 institutions in Rwanda. It is envisaged that outreach activities will be expanded to provincial levels, and the project will engage key target groups, inform them about the ICTR, mobilize them to promote human rights, and foster the culture of accountability inside and outside Rwanda.
ICTR has also established a complex international institution based in Arusha and Kigali, which includes four modern, fully equipped Courtrooms and the first ever Detention Facility to be set up and run by a United Nations body.
Challenges
The ICTR faces many challenges which affect the pace of the proceedings. Important factors are the complexity of the cases; the need for voluminous disclosure and translation of documents; transport of witnesses from all parts of the world; unavailability of witnesses; and the need to interpret testimony between English, French and Kinyarwanda. These challenges contribute to the fact that ICTR trials are more time-consuming than trials conducted at the national level.
In spite of its achievements, the ICTR still faces the challenge of informing Rwanda’s rural population of its progress given that the Information Centre, Umusanzu mu Bwiyunge in Kigali, can only receive people who live in, or are able to travel to Kigali.
Opportunities
Given that ICTR prefers, to the extent possible, enforcement of its sentences in Africa, for socio-cultural reasons, private foundations could provide funding to Governments which will enable them provide this vital support to the tribunal. This will also have greater deterrent effect in the continent because by providing jails for the Tribunal’s genocide convicts, African countries would be demonstrating a serious commitment to the rule of law.
Political, moral and material support by African countries for the court is essential. Much depends upon the ultimate success or failure of the ICTR because it is dealing with crimes committed in Africa, with more than 500,000 victims. African countries and Governments should make the point that the lives of these victims are as important as those of victims of mass atrocities everywhere by giving a higher profile to the work of the International Tribunal for Rwanda. The Tribunal’s work is providing important precedents for the future International Criminal Court and various national jurisdictions. It is making a fundamental contribution to international peace and justice in the twenty-first century.
