Author: DEUS NGOWI
AfricaPress-Tanzania: AS the world marked International Criminal Justice Day on Friday, eminent officials of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) have expressed their desire to end impunity in the world.
In their joint statement, Mechanism President Judge Carmel Agius, Prosecutor Serge Brammertz and Registrar Abubacarr Tambadou said significant work remained to be done at both national and international levels to end impunity.
“This is a day to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to dispensing justice and upholding the rule of law. Despite the notable achievements of the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Mechanism, significant work remains to be done at both national and international levels to bring an end to impunity,” said the principal officials.
This comes a few days after the arrest of Rwandan Genocide fugitive Félicien Kabuga and the confirmation of the death of fugitive Augustin Bizimana, which underline the strength of the Mechanism’s determination.
However, Protais Mpiranya, former commander of the Presidential Guard of the Rwandan Armed Forces remains at large. The officials noted that the Mechanism continued pursuing five other fugitives indicted by the ICTR.
In The Hague, the Mechanism will soon complete proceedings in the Ratco Mladić appeal and the Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović trial and continues offering support to national courts in former Yugoslavia that are continuing the work of the ICTY.
In their statement, the president, prosecutor and registrar noted that July 17 was a day to inspire people across the world to advocate international criminal justice.
Everywhere people want peace, justice and respect for human rights and human dignity.
“The international criminal justice system embraces these values and aims at building a better world for all humankind liberated from the scourge of war and mass atrocity crimes. We call upon the international community to support an effective and fair international criminal justice system according to which no one is above the law,” they observed in their statement.
The trio emphasised that international criminal justice was more important than ever to both the international community and the victims of mass atrocity crimes.
“As the world reflects on the state of international criminal justice, it had also to remember the horrific events that galvanised the international community in the mid- 1990s – the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and the genocide in Srebrenica.”
The judicial landscape has changed dramatically in the quarter century since those events that shocked the world.
In recent years, a turn towards new accountability mechanisms and domestic proceedings has been seen, also as a result of the pioneering work of the ad hoc tribunals.
“With the rise of new technologies, mass atrocity crimes become more visible. The future lies in a combination of different justice models and also the efforts of domestic or hybrid courts to follow up our valuable legacy. This is a day to honour and pay tribute to the bravery of victims and witnesses worldwide. This day belongs to them and their courage to stand up against injustice and come forward to tell their stories,” they noted.
