International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

 

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Further information: Rwandan Genocide

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) (French: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda, Kinyarwanda: Urukiko Nshinjabyaha Mpuzamahanga rwagenewe u Rwanda) is an international court under the auspices of the United Nations for the prosecution of offenses committed in Rwanda during the genocide which occurred there in the 100 days following April 6, 1994. The court was established with the jurisdiction to prosecute crimes which occurred between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1994.

It was created on November 8, 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in order to judge those people responsible for the acts of genocide and other serious violations of the international law performed in the territory of Rwanda, or by Rwandan citizens in nearby states, between January 1 and December 31, 1994.

It was set up by the UN Security Council following the resolutions:

• Resolution 955 on November 8, 1994^[1]
• Resolution 978 on February 27, 1995 ^[2] (see UN Security Council Resolution 978)
• Resolution 1165 on April 30, 1998^[3]

By Resolution 977 on February 22, 1995 , the Security Council decided that the seat of the Tribunal would be located in Arusha, Tanzania. (s:UN_Security Council Resolution 977) From 2006, Arusha is also the location of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.

The tribunal has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which are defined as violations of Common Article Three and Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions (dealing with war crimes committed during internal conflicts).

So far, the Tribunal has finished 21 trials and convicted 28 accused persons. Another 11 trials are in progress. 14 individuals are awaiting trial in detention; but the prosecutor intends to transfer 5 to national juristdiction for trial. 18 others are still at large, some suspected to be dead.[3] The first trial, of Jean-Paul Akayesu, began in 1997. Jean Kambanda, interim Prime Minister, pled guilty. According to the ICTR's Completion Strategy, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1503, all first-instance cases are to have completed trial by the end of 2008 and all work is to be completed by 2010. It has recently been discussed that these goals may not be realistic and are likely to change.

Rape

The trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu established precedents that rape is a crime of genocide. The Trial Chamber held that "sexual assault formed an integral part of the process of destroying the Tutsi ethnic group and that the rape was systematic and had been perpetrated against Tutsi women only, manifesting the specific intent required for those acts to constitute genocide."^[4] Presiding judge Navanethem Pillay said in a statement after the verdict: "“From time immemorial, rape has been regarded as spoils of war. Now it will be considered a war crime. We want to send out a strong message that rape is no longer a trophy of war.” ^[5]

Trial against "hate media"

The trial against "hate media" began on October 23, 2000. It is charged with the prosecution of the media which encouraged the genocide of 1994.

On August 19, 2003, at the tribunal in Arusha, life sentences were requested for Ferdinand Nahimana, and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza, persons in charge for the Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, as well as Hassan Ngeze, director and editor of the Kangur newspaper. They are charged with genocide, incitement to genocide, and crimes against humanity, before and during the period of the genocides of 1994. On 3 December 2003, the court found all three defendants guilty and sentenced Nahimana and Ngeze to life imprisonment and Barayagwiza to imprisonment for 35 years. The case is currently on appeal.

Composition

The Tribunal consists of 16 Judges in four "chambers" - three to hear trials, and one to hear appeals. In addition, there are 9 ad litem judges, making 25 in all. At present, all 9 ad litem judges are assigned to Chambers II and III. There is an additional pool of 9 further ad litem judges who may be called on in the case of a judge being absent.

The column denoted by # indicates the order of precedence.

Trial Chamber I

#	Judge	Country of Origin	Status
5.	Erik Møse		Presiding Judge, Trial Chamber I
13.	Jai Ram Reddy		member
14.	Sergei Alekseevich Egorov		member

Trial Chamber II

#	Judge	Country of Origin	Status
4.	William Sekule		Presiding Judge, Trial Chamber II
12.	Arlette Ramaroson		member
16.	Joseph Asoka Nihal De Silva		member
17.	Solomy Balungi Bossa		ad litem
18.	Lee Gacugia Muthoga		ad litem
20.	Emile Francis Short		ad litem
21.	Taghrid Hikmet		ad litem
22.	Seon Ki Park		ad litem

Trial Chamber III

#	Judge	Country of Origin	Status
2.	Khalida Rachid Khan		Vice-President ICTR, Presiding Judge, Trial Chamber III
1.	Dennis Byron		President ICTR, member
15.	Inés Mónica Weinberg de Roca		member
24.	Robert Fremr		ad litem
19.	Florence Rita Arrey		ad litem
25.	Vagn Joensen		ad litem
23.	Gberdao Gustave Kam		ad litem

Appeals Chamber

#	Judge	Country of Origin	Status
3.	Fausto Pocar		Presiding Judge, Appeals Chamber
10.	Theodor Meron		member
6.	Mohamed Shahabuddeen		member
8.	Liu Daqun		member
7.	Mehmet Güney		member
11.	Wolfgang Schomburg		member
9.	Andrésia Vaz		member

Office of the Prosecutor

The Office of the Prosecutor is divided into two Sections:

• The Investigation Section is responsible for collecting evidence implicating individuals in crimes committed in Rwanda in 1994.
• The Prosecution Section is responsible for prosecuting all cases before the Tribunal.

Hassan Bubacar Jallow of the Gambia is the current Prosecutor of the ICTR. He has previously served as The Gambia's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice from 1984 to 1994, and subsequently as a Judge of Supreme Court of The Gambia from 1998 to 2002. He was appointed by the Security Council on September 15, 2003 to replace Carla Del Ponte.

The Registry

The Registry is responsible for the overall administration and management of the ICTR. It also performs other legal functions assigned to it by the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence, and is the Tribunal’s channel of communication.

The Registry is headed by the Registrar, who is the Representative of the UN Secretary-General. Adama Dieng of Senegal is the present Registrar. He took office in March, 2001.

Related legal activities

French prosecutor Jean-Louis Bruguière is also pursuing a case against the current President, Paul Kagame, and other members of his administration, for the assassination of his predecessor. This case is under the regular jurisdiction of the French courts because French citizens were also killed in the plane crash.

See also

• Command responsibility
• International Criminal Court
• Gacaca court
• The Church and the Rwandan Genocide
• Global Justice or Global Revenge? by Hans Köchler

References

1. ^ Resolution 955 (1994). United Nations (8 November 1994).
2. ^ Resolution 978 (1995). United Nations (27 February 1995).
3. ^ Resolution 1165 (1998). United Nations (30 April 1998).
4. ^ Fourth Annual Report of ICTR to the General Assembly (1999), accessed at [1] March 23, 2007
5. ^ Quoted in citation for honorary doctorate, Rhodes University, April 2005 accessed at [2] March 23, 2007

External links

• Official site of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
• TRIAL: Cases before ICTR
• Human Rights Watch Report, "Genocide in Rwanda"
• Topical digests of the case law of ICTR and ICTY, Human Rights Watch, 2004
• A case before the ICTR: Jean Kambanda - TRIAL WATCH

International criminal law
Sources of international criminal law:
Customary international law - Peremptory norm - Hague Conventions - Geneva Conventions - Nuremberg Charter - Nuremberg Principles - United Nations Charter - Genocide Convention - Convention Against Torture - Rome Statute
Crimes against international law:
Crime against humanity - Crime against peace - Crime of apartheid - Genocide - Piracy - Slave trade - War crime - War of aggression
International courts:
Nuremberg Trials - International Military Tribunal for the Far East - Khabarovsk War Crime Trials - International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia - International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda - Special Court for Sierra Leone - Special Tribunal for Lebanon - International Criminal Court
History:
List of war crimes - List of convicted war criminals
Related concepts:
Command responsibility - Laws of war - Universal jurisdiction

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