02.01.07 - RWANDA/AMNESTY - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DOUBTS RWANDA HAS THE CAPACITY TO JUDGE ...

RWANDA/AMNESTY - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DOUBTS RWANDA HAS THE CAPACITY TO JUDGE THE DEFENDANTS OF THE ICTRArusha, January 2nd 2007 (FH) – The international organization for the protection of human rights has expressed doubts concerning the capacity of Rwanda to try the accused of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) who should be transferred there in accordance with the completion strategy of the Tribunal. Amnesty « considers that the (Rwandan) government is not apt to fully insure the security of the suspects before, during and after their prison term and that Rwandan justice cannot guarantee suspects the right to a fair trial complying with the legislation and international conventions », the organization declared in a communiqué released in mid-December. The United Nations, responsible for setting up the ICTR, have ordered that the trials in first instance should be closed before the end of the year 2008. As a consequence, the ICTR plans to transfer to national jurisdictions 17 cases which cannot be judged in due time. Negotiations are underway with The Netherlands, Belgium and France to have them judge certain defendants. The rest of them, whom no country has accepted to receive, should be judged in Rwanda. Before the United Nations assembly in mid-December, the president and the chief prosecutor of the ICTR confirmed that the deadline would be respected. Rwanda, which is volunteering to try the accused of the ICTR, has launched a campaign for the abolition of death penalty. This measure, which figures among the United Nations’ requirements, has not been yet ratified by the Parliament. Amnesty also stresses that Rwanda has not signed the United Nations convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, the organization highlights the fact that « throughout the past two years, with fellow organizations they have gathered information on the lack of independence, of competence and fairness of gacaca courts. Although gacaca tribunals do not have the power to judge suspects transferred by the ICTR, the existence of these courts draws considerable concern about how Rwandan justice handles the cases of genocide suspects ». Amnesty international dreads that the completion strategy of the ICTR might « prevent justice from being rendered to victims of genocide, of crimes against humanity and of war crimes during the 1994 genocide and that it would only result in these crimes remaining unpunished ». PB/MG © Hirondelle News Agency