SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MESSAGE TO INTER-PARLIAMENTARY WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA
Press Release
SG/SM/6166
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MESSAGE TO INTER-PARLIAMENTARY WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA
19970224 Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the inter-parliamentary workshop on the theme "Securing State cooperation and compliance with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda", held in Belleville (Cape Town), South Africa, today, and delivered by the President of the Tribunal, Laity Kama:I am grateful for the opportunity to deliver a message to this workshop on "Securing State cooperation and compliance with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda". I should like to commend Parliamentarians for Global Action and the Government of South Africa for the role they have played in bringing you together for these important discussions at a crucial moment in the history of the Rwanda Tribunal.
The cooperation of States is vital for the success, if not the very functioning, of the International Tribunal. In the absence of an enforcement agency of its own, the International Tribunal, like its twin-Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, must rely heavily on the cooperation of States in all stages of the legal process: collecting evidence, carrying out on-site investigations, the legal service of documents, and most importantly, the arrest and surrender of accused individuals.
However, in most of those areas, implementing legislation is necessary to give effect, within national boundaries, to orders and requests of the Tribunal. This workshop, which is dedicated in great part to facilitating the process of implementing legislation and to discouraging States from using the lack of such legislation as an excuse for refusing to comply with the Tribunal's requests, is thus of particular importance.
In the context of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, more than a dozen States have already enacted implementing legislation. But none of the States neighbouring Rwanda or in proximity to it has yet enacted enabling legislation. This state of affairs must change.
On various occasions, the Security Council, the Prosecutor and Judges of the Rwanda Tribunal have impressed upon African governments the need to cooperate with the Tribunal. For my part, I recently addressed a note to all Member States of the United Nations inviting them to indicate their willingness to accept convicted persons in their prisons.
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Still, there is ample room for other initiatives. This gathering of parliamentarians and government officials presents a unique opportunity to address those primarily responsible for the legislative process in their own countries, and to convey through them to all Governments in the region the need to cooperate with the Rwanda Tribunal, to comply with its orders and requests, and to that end to enact implementing legislation when and to the extent necessary.
In the hope that this workshop will contribute significantly to the efforts of the Rwanda Tribunal to carry out its task of bringing to justice persons responsible for genocide and other crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda in 1994, I wish you all a fruitful and successful meeting.
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