The Establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994)
- Establishment
- The ICTR was created by the UN Security Council in November 1994 (Resolution 955).
- Its mandate was to prosecute those responsible for genocide and serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda during 1994.
- Purpose
- The tribunal aimed to aid national reconciliation and restore peace in the region.
- Location
- It was based in Arusha, Tanzania, near the site of earlier peace talks.
Nature of the ICTR
- Independent body
- The ICTR is an independent international body of justice.
- It is not part of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or the International Criminal Court (ICC).
- Ad hoc tribunal
- The ICTR was an ad hoc (temporary) tribunal, created specifically to prosecute those responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide and related crimes.
- It was accountable to the UN Security Council.
Tensions, Criticisms, and Achievements of the ICTR
- Tensions with Rwanda’s justice system
- The Rwandan government and many citizens preferred local trials, but practical and security challenges meant trials were held in Tanzania.
- The ICTR’s mandate often conflicted with Rwanda’s sovereignty and justice system, creating tensions.
- Rwanda retained the death penalty, while the ICTR’s maximum sentence was life imprisonment.
- Many Rwandans viewed the ICTR’s punishments as too lenient for genocide perpetrators.
- Operational challenges
- The ICTR faced underfunding, staffing shortages, and slow proceedings.
- Formal trials only began in late 1995, and early indictments often targeted lower-level perpetrators rather than the main architects of the genocide.
- By 1998, only 28 indictments had been issued, far fewer than the estimated 150,000 suspects.
- Difficult relationship with Rwanda
- The ICTR had a strained relationship with the RPF-led government, which criticized its slow pace and failure to prosecute alleged RPF crimes post-genocide.
