| UN seeks perpetrators of crimes in Rwanda An international trial of four former members of the Rwandan government has begun in the Tanzanian city of Arusha. They are accused of participating in the 1994 genocide, when a wild inter-tribal massacre broke out between the two Hutu and Tutsi peoples inhabiting this African country. In just a couple of months, up to 800 thousand people died in the bloody massacre. All the defendants held ministerial positions at that time and, according to the prosecution, were involved in the tragedy. They allegedly not only incited violence, but also purchased weapons from abroad that were used by extremists.
Former ministers of Health Casimir Bizimungu, Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jerome Bikamunpaka, Trade and Industry Justine Mugenzi and Civil Service Prosper Mugiraneza appeared before the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). All of them are Hutu and, although they deny their guilt, they went on the run and hid in other African states. Bizimunga was detained in Kenya in 1999, and the others in Cameroon the same year.
The Tribunal was created in November 1994 immediately after the tragic events in Rwanda. So far, only 12 people have been convicted. The most prominent of these was former Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998. He became the first African leader of this level to be jailed for crimes against humanity.
The slowness of international justice is openly dissatisfied with the current (majority Tutsi) government of Rwanda. The role of the UN in the Rwandan tragedy is not very attractive at all. The Blue Helmets were withdrawn from the country, despite numerous warnings of impending bloodshed. Then no one intervened to stop the massacre, unprecedented even for the Dark Continent. Igor TARUTIN |
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