‘'By the end of June this year, we expect judgment to be delivered in four cases, the Gatete, Military II, Butare and Bizimungu cases,'' President indicated in a speech addressed to the ICTR staff last Friday a copy of which was made available to Hirondelle News Agency.
Jean Baptiste Gatete was former Mayor of Murambi commune in Byumba prefecture whereas Military II case involves four former Rwandan military officers. Among them are two former chiefs of staff, General Augustin Bizimungu of the Rwandan Army and General Augustin Ndindiliyimana of Gendarmerie Nationale. Other defendants are Commander of Reconnaissance Battalion, Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and his Deputy, Captain Innocent Sagahutu.
The Butare case is the biggest joint trial at the UN Tribunal with six accused persons. They include the only woman to be indicted by ICTR and former Minister of Family and Women Affairs, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and her son Arsene Shalom Ntahobali, two former prefects, Sylvain Nsabimana and Alphonse Nteziryayo and two former mayors, Elie Ndayambaje and Joseph Kanyabashi.
The fourth case namely Bizimungu trial, jointly tried together four former interim government ministers during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The defendants are Jerome Bicamumpaka (Foreign Affairs), Casimir Bizimungu (Health), Justin Mugenzi (Commerce) and Prosper Mugiraneza (Civil Service).
According to President Byron's speech, five other on going trials were also expected to be completed by the end of this year. These are, joint case of two former Rwandan MRND ruling party leaders, President Matthieu Ngirumpatse and his Vice President, Edouard Karemera, two former ministers, that of Youths, Callixte Nzabonimana and Ex-minister of Planning, Augustin Ngiratabatware.
Other accused in the on going trials include former Mayor Gragoire Ndahimana and ex-military officer, Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana.
President Byron alongside two other top ICTR leaders including the Prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow and the Registrar, Adama Dieng were addressing the staff on general issues and the UN Security Council resolution 1966 of December 2010 to establish the International Residual Mechanism which will take care of the remaining tasks of ICTR and that of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) when both complete their mandates.
According to the resolution, the Council has decided that the Mechanism for ICTR would commence its operations on July 1, 2012 whereas that of ICTY would kick off one year later, on July 1, 2013.
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© Hirondelle News Agency