Tribunal ready to start 17 new genocide trials, prosecutor says

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Hassan Jallow, has said that he is ready to start the trials of 17 suspects held in detention for their role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Jallow said that the trials would be held simultaneously with the ongoing 25 cases in progress.

There are a total of 57 detainees at the special UN Detention Facility in Arusha, location of the tribunal. Upon closure of the investigations deadline in 2004, as directed by the UN Security Council, Jallow, without mentioning the names, said investigations had been completed on 16 targets.

"We are now looking at the files and will decide whether we have enough evidence to proceed," he said. "We have been given up to October [2005] to do that, but our plan is to make sure by June -we will have decided what indictment to file."

Trials had been delayed in the past because of too few judges. However, with the appointment of temporary judges the trials are being speeded.

Regarding the alleged atrocities committed by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), Jallow said investigations had been completed into the allegations that the RPF killed civilians while trying to stop the genocide.

"At the moment, we have passed the phase of investigations," he said. "What we are doing is the evaluation of evidence in order to decide what cases we have."

Jallow did not say how long the evaluation would take.

"I can't state exactly the deadline," he said.

He said the tribunal would be more aggressive in tracking down fugitives with the cooperation of governments and international organisations.

"We want to be more vigorous this year," he said. "If we can't catch them until the tribunal closes down [2008], then their cases will be transferred to national jurisdictions for a trial."

Meanwhile, Jallow said that in an effort to speed up the trials, some of the accused would be tried in national jurisdictions sometime in the first half of this year. Rwanda has requested to try some of them.

Jallow said talks are also ongoing with three European countries, which he did not name, but have shown interest in holding trials. The UN tribunal, which was created in 1994 to hear the cases of key perpetrators of the genocide, has so far convicted 20 and acquitted three.