Although the UN tribunal prosecuting decades-old war crimes in Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia is moving closer to completion, much remains to be done, the Security Council heard on Monday.
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.
Today the President of the #IRMCT, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, presented the Mechanism’s twenty-second progress report to the #UNSC in New York. See the press release and the President's remarks here 👉🏽https://t.co/7Yt8Giaqs9 pic.twitter.com/1zq1P74QxU
— UNIRMCT (@unirmct) June 12, 2023
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.
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 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 judgements 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 the 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 over again,” she said.