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Rwanda's erstwhile general prosecutor Simeon Rwagasore has been appointed the new president of the country's supreme court, the Hirondelle news agency reported.
Five vice-presidents were also approved and appointed by parliament on Monday. The agency recalled that all the court's former officials had been asked to resign. It said the functioning of the court had become more and more paralysed, and Rwagasore's predecessor, Jean Mutsinzi had complained to the Rwandan authorities that magistrates from the former regime had not been replaced and were "sabotaging" the institution.
He said they had refused to carry out his orders and accused them of "insubordination". In particular, the ex-president of the State Council, Alype Nkundiyaremye, had described the country's genocide law of 1996 as "unconstitutional".
Hirondelle said the stagnation of the court had severe consequences for the judicial system, with numerous tribunals unable to function as there was no coordination. Many genocide cases were pending as a result. There was also corruption within the court as many of its employees had not been paid for months. Hirondelle cited analysts as saying the new appointments
were all "government-approved".
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
