Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are set to visit crime scenes in Rwanda later this month, the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) quoted the country’s representative to ICTR, Martin Ngoga, as saying. “We appreciate the visit, and have on many occasions asked the ICTR to let the judges visit Rwanda so that they get to know the gravity and nature of the crimes they are dealing with,” Ngoga said. He noted that the Tribunal had in the past denied the request on the premise that this would imply “bias” and would tamper with the independence of the judges. However, the ICTR had now taken the initiative and this demonstrated that “the performance of the Tribunal is improving and many things have been put right as far as the workings of the Tribunal and its relationship with Rwanda are concerned”, Ngoga said. He added that the visit - tentatively set for 28 August - would in no way lead to bias.
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
Share this article