\u00a0Arusha, 29 May 2007 (FH) - Peter Erlinder, an American lawyer who chairs the association of lawyers of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), presented to the Security Council of the United Nations a file on the crimes committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (former rebels currently in power in Kigali) so that they, in turn, are indicted. \u00a0\u00a0The lawyer, professor of law in the United States, presented this file to all the members of the Council and to its President, South African Dumisani Kumalo. He asks the Council, which created the ICTR, to suspend the trials in progress, to name an independent prosecutor in order to inquire into the links between the current Office of the Prosecutor and the government in Kigali and to prevent any transfer of cases towards Rwanda \u00a0\u00a0This file, also given to the Hirondelle agency, includes copies of principal testimonies blaming the former rebels in the attack against the presidential plane and the resumption of war. It also includes the Warrant signed by French judge Jean Louis Bruguiere, the testimonies of several diplomats and representatives of the United Nations denouncing the action of the rebels while a peace accord had been signed in Rwanda. \u00a0 "Unfortunately, unless there is a drastic change in the functioning of the ICTR it is likely that the Security Council's efforts are been seen by history as an example of "victor's justice" that actually created impunity for war crimes ", said the lawyer in his presentation. \u00a0\u00a0The ICTR was created a few months after the genocide to try the persons that were responsible for the genocide for war crimes committed in 1994. Until now it has only indicted and tried persons close to the former government; no charges have yet to be aimed at members of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. Several investigations are in progress against the RPF; but for several years, the Prosecutor has delayed his decision on whether to indict or not. \u00a0 Erlinder, professor of law in Minnesota, is the lawyer for Major Aloys Ntabakuze in the trial Military I, whose case continues this week. Since its creation, the ICTR has tried 33 people and indicted 90, all having close ties to the former Rwandan government: ministers, officers, administrators, businessmen. Its mandate must theoretically be completed on December 31, 2008. \u00a0\u00a0PB\/AT\/MM <\/p>\n
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\n\u00a9 Hirondelle News Agency\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0Arusha, 29 May 2007 (FH) - Peter Erlinder, an American lawyer who chairs the association of lawyers of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), presented to the Security Council of the United Nations a file on the crimes committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (former rebels currently in power in Kigali) so that they, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-18744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n