Following the transfer of eight files of people indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to Rwanda, questions have lingered, especially on as many of the indicted people remain at large.

As part of the UN tribunal’s completion strategy, its Chief Prosecutors, at different occasions a few years ago, decided to refer some of the cases to Rwanda, as a means to reduce the backlog of cases handled by the court, so that it could beat its deadline.

Whereas two of the suspects were already in ICTR custody and have since been transferred to Rwanda, six o suspects are still at large and their whereabouts largely unknown, according to sources close to investigations in the cases in question.

"For most of the cases, the trail has run cold, it has been years – nearly 10 years since  most of these indictments were completed, and with no address at the time for the suspects in question, how do you begin tracking them?” wondered a former staff at the tribunal who requested anonymity.

The source said it would be very difficult for Rwanda to track them where the ICTR failed, given the clout derived from the tribunal’s mandate, and resources that the ICTR had at their disposal.

However, in an interview on Thursday, the Prosecutor of the ICTR, Justice Boubacar Jallow said efforts to apprehend them had been boosted by their inclusion on the Rewards for Justice Programme of the US State Department.

"We shall continue to work closely with Rwanda to ensure they are apprehended; we have not lost hope and I believe their inclusion on the programme will provide incentive for their arrest,” Jallow said on the sidelines of a conference organized by the tribunal to discuss its legacy, ahead of its 20th anniversary that was marked in Arusha, Tanzania yesterday.

The Rewards for Justice programme, to which other key fugitives of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are subject, including Genocide Financier Felicien Kabuga, offers $5 million for anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of any.

These cases are now in the hands of the National Public Prosecutions Authority (NPPA)’s international crimes unit.

During an interview, John Bosco Mutangana, the head of the prosecuting team for international crimes in NPPA, said they would do all it takes to build from the files they got from the tribunal to secure their arrests.

"Yes we do not know where these people are but we remain positive that they will someday have their day in court,” Mutangana, who also attended the ICTR meeting, told The New Times.

The tribunal, which remains with just one case – the Butare trial that involves former Minister in charge of Gender, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and five co-accused on appeal, is currently winding up its activities, with the majority of its staff expected to be discharged by the end of this year. It is expected that the court will be closed in September next year, to pave way for the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.

ICTR failed Genocide survivors

Meanwhile, yesterday, during an event to mark 20 years since the UN Security Council passed Resolution 955, the Registrar of ICTR, Bongani Majola, said that despite the achievements of the tribunal, they had fell short on prosecuting most suspects who committed aggravated rape during the Genocide.

"The ICTR has also been criticized for failing to care for the surviving victims of the Genocide and to adequately involve them in the process of prosecuting those it investigated, indicted and tried,” said South African born Majola.

He added that as the tribunal winds up, they have used the challenges and failures as a learning experience to do a better job in future.

"For example, in respect of the prosecution of sexual violence crimes, the ICTR has recorded lessons learnt and produced a manual that has been shared with national prosecuting authorities and others working on issues of sexual violence in armed conflict,” said Majola.

The tribunal has also been criticized for trying few cases given the resources at its disposal over the past 20 years it has been operational.

With 93 indictments issued, the UN court’s prosecution secured 61 convictions and 14 acquittals while others were transferred to national jurisdictions.

In a separate exclusive interview with The New Times, Jallow said that the number of indictments was, among others, predicated by the timeframe within which they were meant to operate.

"This was an ad hoc court, which had a timeframe within which to operate and a specific mandate; to try cases of key architects in the Rwandan Genocide; these included top government officials, senior military officers and civilians who played an outstanding role,” said Jallow.

He said that this figure was also determined by the amount of evidence they had on the suspects in question.