International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

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Last week we attened our first session of the ICTR. Simply entering the building was a remarkable experience. Even for someone who has read a great deal about the genocide in Rwanda, it was yet another indicator of how much more there is to learn. Sitting in the courtroom that afternoon, I was reminded once again how quickly people forget. And to think that while the UN has convened this Tribunal in Arusha, another genocide is happening not all that far away. Sooner or later a similar tribunal will occur with Sudan as the focus and Rwanda will simply be used for comparisons sake.

We entered the courtroom mid-witness so it took some time to get a reference point. As one of my friends said it was a little like picking up War and Peace and turning to page 562. Most of the time we were in the courtroom the witness was being questioned regarding a specific Jandamarie brigade and their actions while guarding a detention cell. The period of time in question was April 1994. The witness answered nearly every question with 'That is a difficult question to answer.' The last statement we heard as we were exiting the courtroom was in response to a questions from the prosecutor regarding seeing any dead bodies, signs of massacre. The reponse was simply, "the orders to kill came out of Hotel Ibis."
There are currently 11 trails in progress involving more than 20 accused. To date 32 cases have been completed resulting in 27 convictions. Another 72 people have been arrested, and nearly 20 have been indicted but are still at large.

Information regarding the ICTR:
The Tribunals Mandate
"The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was establised by the UN Security Council resoluntion 955 of 8 November 1994. The Security Council establised the tribunal after having commissioned a number of reports on the situation in Rwanda which indicated that genoicde and other widespread and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law had been committed in Rwanda, and having determined that this situationconstituted a threat to international peace and security. The tribunal was therefore establishedfor the persecution of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international Humanitariam law committed in the territory of Rwanda between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994. It may also deal with the persecution of Rwandan citizens responsible for genocide and other violations of international law committed in the territory of neighboring states during the same period. " (UN ICTR)

"According the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in while or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group, as such:
-Killing members of the group;
-Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
-Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
-Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The above definition reproduces that laid down by the genoicide convention of 1945. " (UN ICTR)

Needless to say it was a powerful experience and one I will not forget anytime soon.

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