Hunt for fugitives continues: registrar

Arusha. A hunt for indicted fugitives of Rwanda’s genocide continues with the same drive even after the closing shop of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in December 2015.

This was affirmed on Monday by Mr Olufemi Elias, the Registrar of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), which succeeded the Tribunal during his visit to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ).

Since it started trials in 1997 until its closure, the Tribunal, formed by the United Nations in December 1994 to track down the fugitives of genocide in Rwanda the same year, had convicted 61 people and acquitted 14 others.

Eight individuals indicted by the ICTR for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes are still at large, he said, adding: “ Locating and arresting the remaining fugitives is a top priority for the Mechanism’s Office of the Prosecutor.”

Besides facilitating the tracking down and prosecution of the remaining fugitives, the Mechanism is also mandated to protect the victims and witnesses of the massacre in Rwanda in which over 800,000 people were hacked to death in 100 days between April and July 1994.

According to Mr Elias, more than 100,000 witnesses, many of who are also victims, gave evidence before the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), which prosecuted the fugitives indicated for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

“In total, 46 per cent of those witnesses were granted protective measures by the Tribunals,” he noted. The Registrar told the EACJ officials led by President of the Court Emmanuel Ugirashebuja that the Mechanism was also responsible for a range of archives used during the prosecution of Rwanda’s genocide fugitives being documents, photographs, maps and audio-visual recordings.

The archives, which documented investigations, indictments and court proceedings, are the property of the United Nations and the Mechanism Archives and Records Section (MARS) preserves them in accordance with the highest international standards.

The Mechanism has two branches, being the one in Arusha, which covers functions inherited from the Rwanda Tribunal and the other in The Hague, The Netherlands, which covers functions inherited from ICTY. The Arusha branch additionally has a satellite field office in Kigali, Rwanda. The EA Court President pledged close cooperation and working relations with MICT in the administration of criminal justice.

During his visit to Kigali last week, MICT Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said the search for Rwanda’s genocide suspects would continue in close collaboration with the Kigali government. “International arrest warrants issued by ICTR are still valid,” he said.