NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 31, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will next week join other prosecutors in Arusha, Tanzania to attend the 20th anniversary of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Bensouda will join the other prosecutors in a panel debate on lessons learned in empowerment of national jurisdictions to prosecute international crimes.
The International Prosecutor’s Colloquium will also be held to review the work of the tribunal since its establishment in 1994, according to communication by the ICTR Legal Officer.
The Kenyan Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will be in the panel that will discuss how national prosecutors perform their work in the prosecution of international crimes.
Other prosecutors who will be in Arusha include Brenda Hollis, Prosecutor for the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone, Hassan Bubacar Jallow of ICTR and Bob Reid Chief of Operations, Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Caroline Busiman, an international defence lawyer at the ICC and Stephen Rapp, US Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues, Office of Global Criminal Justice will be among top law experts who will participate in other panels.
The high level colloquium will be held on Monday and Tuesday whereas a Legacy Symposium will be held on November 7 and 8.
The ICTR was established in 1994 by the UN Security Council following the Rwandan genocide that left about a million people dead after a massacre between the Hutus and Tutsis.
ICTR’s main role was to locate and prosecute persons most responsible for the 1994 genocide.
So far the ICTR has indicted 93 individuals of whom 61 have been sentenced, 14 acquitted and 10 referred to national judicial processes.
Three of the 93 died during trial while three others – Félicien Kabuga, Protais Mpiranya, and Augustin Bizimana – were declared as fugitives.
Only two indictments were withdrawn prior to trial.
The 93 individuals comprise high ranking government officials, military officers, politicians and other individuals including media personalities blamed for the genocide that caught the world’s attention for the massive atrocities that were carried within 100 days.
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