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No. 00293 |
October 25-31, 2003 |
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Three ad litem judges appointed at the ICTRBy Hirondelle News Agency
Three ad litem judges have been appointed by the UN Secretary General, Koffi Annan, to sit in various trials before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, official sources revealed on Monday. The three ad litem judges are part of 18 judges elected by the United Nations General Assembly on June 25, 2003. Only four of them will be able to sit at any one time. Their appointment is meant to speed up the pace of the trials so as to enable the Tribunal meet its mandate of 2008. On September 1st, the first ad litem judge, Salomy Balongi Bossa from Uganda, began her mandate. "The ad litem judges have been appointed at the request of the President of the ICTR, Judge Erik Mose", the press release from the external relations and strategic planning section of the ICTR reads. Three judges will sit in two new trials which are scheduled to begin on November 3rd, while Judge Bossa will sit in an ongoing trial according to the press release. The three new judges are Lee Gacuiga Muthoga (Kenya), Flavia Latanzi (Italy)and Florence Rita Arrey (Cameroon). Judge Latanzi and Judge Arrey will sit in the trial dubbed Government I to be heard in Trial Chamber Three. It involves four former senior Rwandan government officials namely, Mathieu Ngirumpatse former President of the Mouvement Révolutionnaire National pour le Développement (MRND) as well as Minister of Justice, Edouard Karemera, former minister of Internal Affairs and Vice President of MRND, Joseph Nzirorera, former interior minister and president of National Assembly and André Rwamakuba former minister of primary and secondary education. Judge Muthoga has been assigned the so-called Government Two to be heard in Trial Chamber Two. This trial also involves four former government ministers in the interim government namely; Casimir Bizimungu, (Health) Jérôme Bicamumpaka (Foreign Affairs) Justin Mugenzi, (Commerce) and Prosper Mugiraneza (Public Service). Judge Bossa, will be hearing the Butare trial which had been put off indefinitely from last year due to changes in the composition of Trial Chamber Two, where it was being heard. The Appeals Chamber of ICTR early this month ruled that the trial will continue from the point it left off last March. The majority of the Appeals Chamber rejected a motion filed by five defence teams that requested that the trial should restart from scratch because of the non-re-election of one of the judges, Winston Churchill Mantazima Maqutu from Lesotho. Judge Bossa has also been hearing the case of former Rwandan Minister of Finance Emmanuel Ndindabahizi which began on September 1st. The so called Butare Trial and Government cases are expected to last for two years.
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October 23, 2003. Webmaster: WDJMallya |
