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Three new judges appointed to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) were sworn in on Monday by UN Under-Secretary-General and Legal Counsel Hans Corell, the tribunal said in a statement. The latest appointments take to nine the total number of judges of the three trial chambers of the ICTR. The three judges are Mehmet Guney from Turkey, Erik Mose from Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardna of Sri Lanka.
Five trials have now been completed by the tribunal. They constitute the first judgements by any international court in the world for genocide. The new judges will form a third chamber which is expected to speed up the trials of nearly 50 suspects currently being held in custody.
Dr Agwu Ukiwe Okali, the ICTR’s Registrar, said in an interview with the ‘EastAfrican’ this week that the tribunal had already made its mark, despite accusations that it had moved too slowly. “We have been able to bring to justice some of the most senior people, like former prime minister Jean Kambanda ... In Africa, it is almost unheard of for someone like a prime minister to be punished,” he said, adding: “Now we have shown that they will be punished, it is beginning to sink in.”
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