\nMarch 15, 2007 (FH) \u2013 The UN, specifically through the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), still hopes to find countries to host two former ministers and a former prefect acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). <\/p>\n
Acquitted by the Trial Chamber on February 25, 2004, the former Transportation Minister Andre Ntagerura and the former prefect of Cyangugu Emmanuel Bagambiki saw their verdict confirmed on appeal on February 8, 2006.\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nIn addition, the prosecutor did not appeal the acquittal on September 20, 2006, of the former Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Andre Rwamakuba. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still the status quo,\u201d the Chief Registrar of the ICTR, the Senegalese Adama Dieng, told the Hirondelle Agency, deploring the failure of the efforts extended by his offices to find host countries for these three people. <\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing a demand that I addressed to the UN Secretary General, the High Commissioner for Refugees received me on March 6 and promised me his support in offering me his services,\u201d Dieng indicated. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe understood the magnitude of the problem: He promised to try to obtain relocations,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n
Dieng underlined that \u201cthe problem risks being a recurrent one so far as those acquitted don\u2019t want to return to Rwanda: they insist that they will not be safe.\u201d This situation is particular to the ICTR: in contrast to those acquitted at the tribunal\u2019s counterpart that judges crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, those at the ICTR are not welcomed with open arms in their country of origin. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe ICTR has no territory and can only count on the goodwill of the member states\u201d of the UN, Dieng saying that he had notified Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, and a single African country, Namibia. <\/p>\n
Regretting that Western countries \u201chave closed their doors a little,\u201d he equally noted that \u201cthose acquitted exclude African countries for safety reasons.\u201d He nevertheless thanked France which has taken in two of five people acquitted by the Tribunal at present, namely former mayors Ignace Bagirishema and Jean Mpambara. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that these countries (Western) understand that this Tribunal was created by the Security Council and that it is the international community which must deal with the consequences of the verdicts that it renders,\u201d the Chief Registrar insisted. <\/p>\n
During the creation of this tribunal in November 1994, the contingency of acquittals does not seem to have been considered, to the point that on the current Internet website of the Tribunal, those acquitted are listed under the category \u201creleased detainees.\u201d <\/p>\n
ER\/PB\/KD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
March 15, 2007 (FH) \u2013 The UN, specifically through the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), still hopes to find countries to host two former ministers and a former prefect acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Acquitted by the Trial Chamber on February 25, 2004, the former Transportation Minister Andre Ntagerura and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"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-23144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n