Rwanda genocide tribunal comes to end after almost 3 decades

Post By Diaspoint | May 24, 2024

It comes as the last two fugitives were successfully accounted for

The UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has officially concluded after 29 years, the Office of the Prosecutor has announced.

It comes as the last two fugitives indicted by the tribunal — Ryandikayo and Charles Sikubwabo — were successfully accounted for, ultimately confirmed as deceased.

Ryandikayo and Sikubwabo were charged with several crimes including counts of genocide and the two were accused of leading mobs of the Interhamwe Hutu militia.

“My Office and I are pleased that today, this work has been brought to a successful end,” said International Residual Mechanism for Criminal tribunals (IRMCT) Chief Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz.

The IRMCT told ABC News that a total of 92 persons were indicted by the UN tribunal for crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis.

Reflecting on the work of the last 29 years, Brammertz said the ICTR team faced ‘immense difficulties and “significant” challenges tracking and locating fugitives, ranging from “sophisticated efforts by fugitives to conceal their identities and locations” and “political unwillingness of countries to execute arrests.”

“Many began to doubt that notorious fugitives, like Felicien Kabuga or Ratko Mladić, would ever be arrested,” said Brammertz.

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