ICTR takes Kenya to UN Security Council over Kabuga

ARUSHA - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has reported Kenyan authorities to the UN Security Council for non co-operation in the hunt for war crimes fugitive, Felicien Kabuga. According to The Standard, the court’s President, Judge Dennis Byron, Monday said that Kabuga’s non-availability would affect ICTR’s calendar and timetable. ICTR’s trial mandate which was coming to a close this December, has been extended by a year. From Arusha where the ICTR is trying suspects of the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, Judge Byron said that ICTR prosecutors believe that Kabuga was still hiding in Kenya. The Judge however did not provide further details on the suspect’s probable hideout. He also noted that dialogue between ICTR and the Kenyan authorities on Kabuga have been futile. Byron did not indicate who in Kenya the ICTR prosecutor and investigator had been in contact with but revealed dialogue had virtually stalled, leaving a cold trail in the search for the man believed to have co-funded the slaughter of over one million Rwandese in 100 days. “Talks between the office of the ICTR Prosecutor and Government of Kenya have not produced the expected results,” said Byron, who is also the Chief Justice for the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He disclosed that he had received briefs from Prosecutor Hassan Babucar Jallow indicating that investigators believe Kabuga is still in Kenya. Without disclosing the date when the latest investigations were carried out, he mentioned that the briefings were recent and ongoing. “I have received briefs which indicate his (Jallow’s) investigators say Kabuga is in Kenya,” The Standard quotes Judge Byron. According to Judge Byron, Kenya will be brought to book at the UN Security Council. “ICTR has asked the UN Security Council to request Kenya to meet its obligation under relevant statutes that require member states to cooperate with international law,” the Judge is quoted as having said. He revealed that the UN Security Council would soon discuss the Kabuga case and added that there were 13 other war crime fugitives from the Rwanda genocide, most believed to be hiding in the Democratic Republic of Congo. When contacted by phone, the Kenyan Ambassador to Rwanda, Alex Keter, said that he could not make a comment before having the details of the story. Reports at the ICTR indicate that the tribunal presented a huge dossier to the Security Council in August documenting its belief that Kabuga was still in Kenya, protected by people in Government. Ends

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ICTR takes Kenya to UN Security Council over Kabuga