After almost Twenty  years since the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda(ICTR) was established to try war crimes and  genocide against the Tutsis, the international criminal court has been reluctant to try RPF senior military officials  that did not only commit war crimes but also crimes against humanity.

 

Intensive negotiations with the RPF government behind closed doors to hand in some senior officials who are suspected for the above crimes have been fruitless. Despite efforts by the former Chief Prosecutor, Madam Carl DePonte who resubmitted to the former US Secretary of State during Bush Son administration her detailed investigation report for the purpose of prosecuting RPF/A led by Kagame. It is this investigation that led to her exit from ICTR. Bush had thought Kagame was like any other normal human being, little  did he know  that he was dealing with a Killer who will not only be confined to his borders but Kagame has become uncontrollable that he has extended his hand of evil  beyond his borders.

This was a grave mistake for Washington, now both R         republicans and Democrats have discovered that Kagame is not only a ruthless killer but also his policies are bankrupt and are no less than the past dictators that Africa had in the 1970s and 1980s. Kagame with his arrogance handcaffed, detained, and mistreated the American strong international lawyer Peter Enlinder.

Indeed, US has lost hope in Kagame and it is probable that US is, undercover, working on a court that will try Kagame and his men for the crimes committed in Congo in accordance to the Congo Mapping report, known or unknown to Kagame , the  US pushed for the release of the same document which the international media said it just leaked.

Kagame has not only killed Rwandans and Congolese but has killed Americans as well, a court in US formally accepted that RPF/A killed the American tourists. RPF/A played the lie game and cheated President Bush that it was the Hutu rebels in Congo that had killed the innocent Americans, this was a pure lie intended  to attract US sympathy.

In violation of Rwanda Constitution   RPF/A,, sent the so-called “Hutu rebel” killers to US for trial. The court found that all was pure lies. The court recommended that FBI intervenes to collect information about the killers. FBI later found out that it was Kagame’s men. The “Hutu rebels” that were tried for the American’s death, were set free and the court ordered that they cannot be taken back to Rwanda because PRF/A would kill them.  As the Rwandans say, the truth will never burn even in the fire of eternity.

All the men are, now, free in US. Fortunately international crimes  have a long life span ,therefore as soon as Kagame goes the Ghadafi  or Sadam Hussein  way, all the cases will be  de-frozen from the deep freezer ,then  Kagame and his Lieutenants’   will be in the dock in US or other courts including  Rwandan  court .

The main objective of the International Criminal Court was to  deter future crimes and also help in reconciliation of  both sides of the Rwandan community as it  was stated in its preamble: The Preamble of SC Res 955, provided in part:  “The Security Council,… Expressing once again its grave concern at the reports indicating that genocide and other systematic, widespread and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law have been committed in Rwanda, …Determined to put an end to such crimes and to take effective measures to bring to justice the persons responsible for them, Convinced that in the particular circumstances of Rwanda, the prosecution of persons responsible for genocide and the above-mentioned violations of international humanitarian law would enable this aim to be achieved and would contribute to the process of national reconciliation and to the restoration and maintenance of peace, Believing that the establishment of an international tribunal for the prosecution of persons responsible for the above-mentioned violations of international humanitarian law will contribute to ensuring that such violations are halted and effectively redressed

While the Rwanda tribunal responded to some of the lawyer’s gradualist approach to institutional and normative development of international criminal law, it has failed to successfully address the basic purposes for which it was established, to end impunity and deter potential offenders.

To delve more deeply into the ICTR’s handicap in addressing the human rights situation in Rwanda through the international penal process, this Article makes use of a distinction of looking at human, social or for that matter world affair: the actor-orientated and structure-orientated perspectives.

 

Obviously the mass murders in Rwanda did not arise spontaneously. They were instigated by persons in positions of power who sought to gain personal advantages through violent and hideous means. Unfortunately, as the tribunal closes it doors, it has tried one side of the conflict, unless these persons are held accountable for their crimes against humanity, the reconciliation necessary for the reconstruction of this torn country is not be possible.

 

Jacqueline Umurungi

. Brussels