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Statement by the Registry on behalf of the Chambers

19 March 1999
The Judges of Trial Chamber 1 of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), having heard reactions from the various media groups and even that of some organs of the ICTR on the Decision rendered on 18 March 1999 in "The Prosecutor versus Bernard Ntuyahaga", have authorised the Registry to make the following statement. 1. The Judges, upon the initiative of... more

Cooperation and assistance of states key to success of ICTR

9 March 1999
The Tribunal is pleased to provide the following overview of the status of cooperation and assistance received by the ICTR from states. As may be recalled, Security Council resolution 955 of 8 November 1994, which established the Tribunal, is binding on all U.N. Member States. The Statute of the ICTR (Article 28) requires Member States to cooperate with the Tribunal's... more

The six lawyers of Jean-Paul Akayesu, former Bourgmestre of Taba

25 February 1999
Following detainee Mr. Jean-Paul Akayesu's repeated refusal to choose his defence counsel within the Tribunal's guidelines, the ICTR Registry on 9 February 1999 assigned a new defence counsel to him in the interest of justice and at the instruction of the ICTR Appeals Chamber. Mr. Giacomo Calderera, a French-speaking Italian lawyer, is the sixth counsel the Tribunal has... more

Casimir Bizimungu, former Rwandan Foreign Minister, transferred to Arusha

23 February 1999
Dr. Casimir Bizimungu, a medical doctor who at different times was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Health in Rwanda and is suspected of genocide-related crimes, was transferred to the ICTR detention facilities in Arusha today. Bizimungu is yet to be formally charged. He was arrested in Nairobi on 11 February 1999 on the basis of a Rule 40bis order for his transfer... more

Three new judges of Tribunal to be sworn in on 22 February 1999

16 February 1999
The swearing-in ceremony of three of the five newly elected judges by the United Nations General Assembly for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda will be held in Arusha on 22 February 1999. The ceremony will take place in the newly constructed third courtroom of the Tribunal, which will also be inaugurated on the same day. The three judges are Lloyd George Williams... more

ICTR Registrar meets Mali's Head of State, concludes agreement on enforcement of Tribunal sentences

12 February 1999
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Dr. Agwu Ukiwe Okali (Nigeria), met today with the Head of State of Mali, H. E. Alpha Oumar Konaré in Bamako, the Malian capital. The Malian leader and the senior U.N. official discussed the work of the Tribunal and the cooperation of the Government of Mali in the... more

Niyitegeka arrested in Nairobi and transferred to Arusha

11 February 1999
Another senior member of Rwanda's 1994 Interim Government, indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, has been arrested. Eliezer Niyitegeka, who was the Minister of Information in the Interim Government was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, on 09 February 1999 by Kenyan law enforcement officials and transferred to the detention facilities of the... more

Trial of George Rutaganda resumes

8 February 1999
The trial of George Rutaganda, a former businessman and Vice-President of Interahamwe, resumed today before Trial Chamber 1 when the Defence began its case by calling expert witness Dr. Jean Shimamungu, a linguist. Led by Defence Counsel Tiphaine Dickson from Canada, the witness began his testimony by explaining to the court the lexicological science of the Kinyarwanda... more

Fifteen years of imprisonment for Omar Serushago Defence Counsel goes on appeal

5 February 1999
Trial Chamber I of the ICTR has today, Friday 5 February 1999, sentenced Omar Serushago, erstwhile Interahamwe leader in Gisenyi, to fifteen years of imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity (murder, torture and extermination). The accused had pleaded guilty to all these crimes. The sentence shall be served in a state designated by the President of the Tribunal,... more

Defence Counsel for Laurent Semanza replaced

3 February 1999
Trial Chamber 2 today granted Mr. Gaétan Bourassa's request for replacement as Defence Counsel for Mr. Laurent Semanza following his failure to appear in court or to bring a standing Counsel. The Chamber composed of Judges William Sekule (presiding), Yakov Ostrovsky, and Tafazzal Khan directed the Registrar to assign another Counsel to the accused. The trial of Mr. Semanza was... more