The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) ruled on Thursday Genocide suspect Jean Uwinkindi should be brought to Rwanda for trial within a fortnight.The decision, which legal minds say is final, cannot be appealed against and is void of ambiguities that had characterised previous decisions in a case involving the former clergyman.Uwinkindi is responsible for the massacre of his flock among, other victims, during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Bugesera District.“(Court) requests the Registrar to ensure that such transfer takes place within 14 days of the filing of this decision; and instructs the Registrar to make all other necessary arrangements in line with this decision,” reads part of the verdict passed by tribunal president Vagn Joensen.Similar rulings that had given timelines within which Uwinkindi could be transferred to Rwanda were not precise as of when the counting of days could start.For instance, an earlier ruling said that he should be “transferred within 30 days after the decision is made final.”“It looks like he will be transferred as decided…I am particularly happy that besides the actual transfer, the decision clarifies important aspects that will make everyone have a clear sense of what needs to be done,” said Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga.Clarity in the decision is made especially on the monitoring process of the trial once it begins in Kigali where the Registrar had continuously presented hurdles on who would do the monitoring.The ruling averred that as negotiations with a suitable organisation to provide monitors to the process continue, the Registrar should appoint a team of two employees for the tribunal to do the monitoring, in the time being.According to the statute of the International Residual Mechanism for International Tribunals, monitoring of cases transferred to national jurisdiction should be carried out by an international or regional organisation.The most likely candidate in this particular trial is the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights.Monitors will be required to provide progressive monthly reports to the tribunal’s president, especially concerning whether the suspect’s rights are being respected.The transfer of Uwinkindi from the time-barred Tanzania based tribunal is seen as a major breakthrough for the Rwandan judiciary, in terms of setting precedence for similar transfers, from the tribunal itself or from national jurisdictions.Already, the UN-backed tribunal, which has until 2014 to have wrapped up business after 17 years in existence, has referred two other cases to Rwanda.However, the other two; Fulgence Kayishema and Charles Sikubwabo, are still at large.17 years down the road, the tribunal, instituted by the UN Security Council to try key architects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, has completed 69 cases; including 17 that are on appeal and has made 10 acquittals.Most prominent among the convicts, is the former Prime Minister of the interim government that supervised and executed the Genocide, Jean Kambanda, who was sentenced to life and is currently serving his sentence in a Malian prison.They also include Theoneste Bagosora, whose sentence was on appeal reduced to 35 years of imprisonment sparking outcry, mainly among Genocide survivors, given the central role he is believed to have had in the killings.A former Director of Cabinet in the Ministry of Defence, Bagosora is said to have been a major powerbroker, with some suggesting that he personally selected Kambanda’s interim government, including the then interim president Theodore Sindikubwabo. Doubts have arisen over the legacy of the court after it closes down without apprehending major suspects, including the alleged ‘Genocide financier’ Felicien Kabuga.
