Rwanda genocide court to shut down after 20 years

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has announced its closure amid criticism over its exorbitant cost and failure to provide enough justice following the country’s 1994 genocide.

The Tanzanian-based and UN-backed ICTR announced that it will close up after two decades of work that saw 61 convictions, including seven who are still waiting for their appeal, at a cost of nearly USD 2 billion.

Only the ICTR’s appeals chamber will remain open for one final trial after December 31.

As Africa’s sole international court designed to judge crimes committed on the continent, critics say the ICTR failed to grasp an understanding of context over crimes committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Justice has been painfully slow and far removed from the victims on the ground, critics argue.

The court has also failed to provide victim reparations and mechanisms to prosecute alleged crimes by those on the other side of the conflict, they added.

In two decades, the ICTR has indicted only 92 people, mostly senior political or military officers at the time of the genocide.

In contrast, Rwandan “gacaca” grassroots courts have put nearly two million people on trial and convicted 65 percent of them since 2001.

The ICTR, similar to its twin, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), targeted the top leaders and those accused of the most serious crimes behind Rwanda’s genocide.

“International justice is expensive and has got in-built challenges…. We should add more energy to push to have trials done at a national or regional level, where there … may be greater cooperation,” said ICTR clerk, Bongani Majola.

The Rwandan genocide of 1994 lasted approximately 100 days and hence is called the “100 Days of Hell.” At least 800,000 people were killed, overwhelmingly ethnic Tutsis, at the hands of Hutu extremists.