PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA

At a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Madam Justice Navanethem Pillay, urged ratification of the Rome Statute setting up a permanent international court to deal with specified crimes including genocide and crimes against humanity.

Justice Pillay said she felt that now was the appropriate moment for the world to be looking at the work of the two ad hoc Tribunals including the one for the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

She said it was possible to have a process of international criminal jurisdiction and that had happened in the Rwandan Tribunal. The Tribunal had had far greater success than the one based at The Hague because of the cooperation it had received from governments in Africa which had willingly transferred suspects indicted by the Tribunal.

The Rwanda Tribunal had had seven convictions and one withdrawal. A former Prime Minister had been among those convicted. The sentences had ranged from life imprisonment to 15 years imprisonment. Thirty-seven individuals were currently being held in detention facilities at Arusha, of whom 10 were former ministers, including a woman, who formed the interim government of Rwanda. The offences they faced were genocide and crimes against humanity, including rape and sexual violence and murder. All the accused persons had pleaded not guilty.

The number of the Tribunal’s judges had been increased to nine, she said. The judges were determined to complete the trials within their four-year mandate. To do so, they had changed some of the rules to expedite the process. She said correspondents must understand that trials which followed international fair trial procedures did take long. Almost all the accused, who had pleaded indegency, had counsel.

The two Tribunals were set up because the United Nations recognized that there could never be peace without justice, she said, and added: “And that is what were are seeing in the outbreak in East Timor today.”

“I feel it is the appropriate moment for the world community to look at the work of the Tribunals and find it in their hearts to adopt and ratify the Convention which sets up a permanent international criminal court which will always be there for the prosecution of the perpetrators of these serious violations”, she said.

Asked whether financing and resource problems had interfered with the work of her Tribunal, she said there was an increase each year in its budget and a new one was being considered. There was a motivation for the provision of more staff. Correspondents, she said, would be surprised to learn that the Rwanda Tribunal employed 600-plus people. Shortages also occurred with regard to staff required

Tribunal Briefing - 2 - 14 September 1999

for the Appeals Chamber. The Tribunal was hard-pressed for space and for staff, but “I believe that these matters are being addressed”, she said.

Recalling an observation made by Justice Pillay that the Tribunal had been very successful because of the cooperation of African governments, a correspondent asked what the attitude of United States authorities had been concerning suspects who had fled to that country. The correspondent noted that currently there was a problem with a Rwandan suspect – a priest – who was being held in Texas.

Justice Pillay said it was a drastic process to pick up somebody on an international warrant. The process had worked well in Africa because governments there had speeded up their own national procedures for extradition. The case referred to by the correspondent had involved 40 extradition proceedings heard by a Texan court against a 73-year old Rwandan priest, who had been arrested and indicted in that state. The most recent judgement was delivered last month.

An appeal court had ordered that the priest should be extradited to the Rwanda Tribunal, Justice Pillay said, adding that the judgement recognized the jurisdiction of the international Tribunal. She said the priest had the right, in terms of the conditions in the United States, to pursue the matter further, directly up to the United States Supreme Court, which she believed he was doing.

Asked what had been done to enhance and to promote witness protection programmes at the Rwandan Tribunal, Justice Pillay said the Security Council, when it passed the statute setting up the two Tribunals, wisely provided for the prosecution, and also for protection of witnesses and victims, a provision which was never found in most national courts. ”Sitting as a judge in South Africa, I never heard where we went out of our way to protect witnesses and victims”, she observed.

“These are special circumstances”, she said. Witnesses had appeared for both prosecution and defence in the case of the Tribunals. It displayed a lot of courage, and a great deal of risk, for a witness to step forward. The usual course at the Tribunal was that both parties -- prosecution and defence -- applied to the Trial Chamber for protection for the witnesses, she said. The orders were that their real names should not be known and that they be brought to the Tribunal in secret and also allowed to testify in secret. She said the testimony of witnesses was broadcast live over Rwandan radio. But sometimes, the broadcast was stopped when it was determined that the witness’ voice might be recognized.

“We are very careful about the protection of witnesses and victims, and I hope the media respects that as well”, she said.

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