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Facts Regarding Assignment of Counsel to ICTR Detainees

30 October 1998
The ICTR programme by which counsel are assigned free of charge to defendants who cannot afford to pay their own legal costs is carried out under rules and guidelines approved by the judges of the Tribunal and embodied in the Directive on assignment of defence counsel and other judicial pronouncements.1 The current situation as regards assignment of counsel to ICTR detainees... more

Akayesu ends hunger strike

30 October 1998
Detainee Jean-Paul Akayesu, who embarked on a hunger strike on 22 October 1998 to pressure the ICTR to appoint as his defence counsel a lawyer who did not meet the Tribunal's criteria for such an assignment, ended his protest action this evening at 1800 hours. Mr. Akayesu ended his hunger strike by eating dinner at the United Nations Detention Facilities in Arusha. In a letter... more

ICTR detainees end hunger strike

28 October 1998
In the latest development, the 25 detainees of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda who had joined a hunger strike in solidarity with convict Jean-Paul Akayesu, today called off their hunger strike. The detainees ate dinner at the United Nations Detention Facilities (UNDF) at Arusha today. The detainees also wrote a letter to the Tribunal authorities in which they... more

Kayishema/Ruzindana trial draws to a close

28 October 1998
The joint trial of Clement Kayishema and Obed Ruzindana is close to completion as the Prosecution concluded its closing argument yesterday, 27 October and the Defence began its own summation today. The trial is taking place in Trial Chamber 2 (Judges William Sekule, presiding, Yakov Ostrovsky, and Tafazzal H. Khan). Mr. Kayishema, 44, is a former Prefect (Governor) of Kibuye... more

Another high ranking accused transferred to ICTR custody

23 October 1998
Dr. André Rwamakuba, a former minister of Education in Rwanda at the time of the genocide in 1994 was today transferred from Namibia to the ICTR's detention facility in Arusha. He was arrested in Windhoek, the Namibian capital, on 21 October 1998. The accused is a medical doctor by profession. He is charged with the crimes of Direct and Public Incitement to commit Genocide,... more

The Jean-Paul Akayesu case: parties appeal

7 October 1998
The Prosecutor of the ICTR and the convict, Jean-Paul Akayesu, have both appealed from the judgment rendered on 2 September 1998 by Trial Chamber I. In the said judgment, the Trial Chamber found Jean-Paul Akayesu guilty of nine (9) counts of the 15 counts comprising his indictment. The Prosecutor is requesting that the not-guilty verdict in regard to Counts 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15... more

Jean-Paul Akayesu sentenced to life imprisonment

2 October 1998
Precisely one month after finding him guilty on nine of the fifteen charges in his indictment, Trial Chamber I of the ICTR, sitting in Arusha today, sentenced Jean-Paul Akayesu, former Bourgmestre of the Taba Commune in Rwanda. The Trial Chamber, made up of Judge Laïty Kama, Presiding, and Judges Lennart Aspegren and Navanethem Pillay, decided to follow the principle of... more

Security Council forwards to General Assembly 18 candidates for judges to ICTR

2 October 1998
The Security Council on 30 September 1998 forwarded to the General Assembly for election, the names of 18 candidates for judges for the three Trial Chambers of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in accordance with article 12 (d) of the Tribunal's Statute. A total of 22 names had been submitted to the Council by 14 September, the deadline for nominations. Through... more

Prosecution asks for life imprisonment of Jean-Paul Akayesu

28 September 1998
"I am asking for pardon … I regret what happened in Rwanda," Akayesu says in his final submission The Prosecution today asked Trial Chamber 1 to impose a maximum sentence of life in prison on Jean Paul Akayesu, the former Bourgmestre of Taba who has already been found guilty of nine out fifteen counts he was charged with in connection with the genocide in... more

French parliamentary delegation visits ICTR

18 September 1998
A delegation of the French Parliament's Mission d'information sur le Rwanda (Information Mission on Rwanda) today visited the ICTR and met with senior officials of the Tribunal. During the visit the delegation held talks with the Acting President of the Tribunal, Judge Yakov Ostrovsky, officials from the Prosecutor's office and a team of Defence lawyers. It also met with... more