Global Policy Forum

UN Court Refers Genocide Case to Rwanda

Print

 In an unprecedented move, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has referred the case of Jean Uwinkindi, a pastor indicted for genocide to  Rwanda. Though previous judges were unwilling to refer cases to national courts, the current chamber has acknowledged Rwanda’s recent changes to its law. While Rwanda has made a sincere and positive effort to change their domestic law, both the Rwandan government and the ICTR must ensure that Uwinkindi’s trail is conducted fairly, legitimately and in accordance with international law in order to bring justice for the victims of the Rwandan genocide.




By George Obulutsa

Alternet
June 28, 2011

A U.N. Court trying the masterminds of Rwanda's 1994 genocide said on Tuesday it had for the first time referred one of its cases to be tried in Rwanda itself.

Rwanda has in the past unsuccessfully sought to have the court hand it some of the cases. In 2007, Rwanda's parliament scrapped the death penalty for genocide suspects who are either being held in Tanzania or at large elsewhere abroad and has introduced legal reforms required by the court.

"The ... International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) today referred the case of Jean Uwinkindi to the Republic of Rwanda to be tried in the Rwandan national court system ..., marking the first time in the Tribunal's history it has done so," the court said in a statement.

Uwinkindi, a pastor, was arrested in Uganda in 2010 and indicted for genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and extermination as a crime against humanity. The ICTR said Uwinkindi "led a group of killers to look for and exterminate Tutsi, in particular Tutsi civilians from Kanzenze commune".

The court said legal changes in Rwanda made a trial there possible.

"The Chamber noted that Rwanda had made material changes in its laws and had indicated its capacity and willingness to prosecute cases referred by the ICTR adhering to internationally recognised fair trial standards enshrined in the ICTR Statute and other human rights instruments," the court said.

"In particular, the Chamber found that the issues which concerned previous Referral Chambers, namely the availability of witnesses and their protection, had been addressed to some degree in the intervening period."

During the genocide, some 800,000 members of the minority Tutsi ethnic group and moderate Hutus were butchered in 100 days of killings.

In late May, one of the top wanted masterminds of the killings, Bernard Munyagishari, a former Hutu militia leader wanted on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, including rape was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo.





 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.