By Two senior officials with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), briefed ambassadors on recent developments, including
the arrest of a top fugitive from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the final verdict related to atrocities committed in the Balkan wars.
Tweet URL Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, Mechanism President, reported that in-court proceedings are all but concluded as only one case related to core crimes committed in Rwanda now remains on the docket. “This represents a watershed moment in the life of the Mechanism and for international criminal justice more
generally,” she said. 30 PATRIOTIC POST Magazine is product of Brythos Africa Ltd Unfit for trial The Mechanism performs essential functions previously
carried out by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which closed in December 2015, and another for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, which concluded two years later. The outstanding case concerns Félicien Kabuga, founder of Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, whose broadcasts fuelled hatred and violence against the Tutsi and others.
Last week, Mr. Kabuga, 88, was deemed unfit to stand trial but an “alternative findings procedure” will be held to provide an opportunity for him to establish his innocence. Genocide denial Ms. Gatti Santana also addressed areas that she said require the Council’s “urgent attention and vigorous backing”, such as the enforcement of sentences. However, she reported that arguably the biggest threat they face is the “relentless attempts to undermine our current work and also the judgments issued by the ICTR, the ICTY, and the Mechanism”. She pointed to Serbia’s “persistent failure to arrest and surrender” politicians Petar Jojić and Vjerica Radeta, for their alleged interference with the administration of justice. “Moreover, there is a disturbing trend of genocide denial, the glorification of war criminals, the purported re-writing of history, and even provocative statements by convicted persons shamelessly admitting that they would do it all
