31.10.14 – WEEKLY SUMMARY – ICC SAYS GBAGBO CANNOT ATTEND MOTHER’S FUNERAL, RWANDAN EX-MINISTER PLEADS FOR ACQUITTAL

Arusha, October 31, 2014 (FH) – In The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected a request from former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to go to his mother’s funeral in Côte d’Ivoire. Meanwhile in Kigali, a former minister convicted for participation in the 1994 genocide asked an appeals court to acquit her.

1 min 21Approximate reading time

ICCCourt rejects Gbagbo’s request to attend mother’s funeral: Laurent Gbagbo is not able to go and pay his last respects to his mother. His request to do so was rejected by the ICC in a decision handed down Wednesday. The Court said it understood the humanitarian nature of the request but rejected it for security reasons. It deemed that the presence of the former president at the funeral in Côte d’Ivoire could pose a security risk for the Ivorian population, for ICC staff and for Gbagbo himself. 

RWANDAFormer Justice Minister pleads her innocence: Former Rwandan Justice Minister Agnès Ntamabyariro, the only member of the government of the time to be tried in Rwanda for her suspected role in the 1994 anti-Tutsi genocide, on Monday asked her appeals judges to acquit her. Ntamabyariro, who has a Hutu father and a Tutsi mother, was convicted by a trial court on February 19, 2009, after being found guilty of crimes including ordering the murder of former Tutsi prefect of Butare (southern Rwanda) Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, who resisted the genocide in his prefecture.

ICCICC urges all States to ratify Treaty of Rome: ICC President Sang-Hyun Song of South Korea Thursday called on all UN member states to join the Court by ratifying its founding Statute, the Treaty of Rome. Song launched his appeal from UN headquarters as he was presenting a report to the UN General Assembly. The UN Security Council can refer situations to the ICC Prosecutor even if they are not ICC States Parties. 

NEXT WEEKAssessment of the ICTR’s work: Eminent persons in the international justice field will  this week meet at the headquarters of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, to assess the work of this tribunal, which is due to close its doors on December 31 this year, after 20 years of work.

ER/JC