Eleneus Akanga
9 October 2005
Kigali — The Registrar of the Arusha-based International Court Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Adama Dieng has frozen the scandalous recruitment process for the post of Chief of Defense Counsel and Detention Management Section (DCDMS) and redeployed to 'other functions' Roland Amoussouga, the official implicated in the scam, last month.
In a communiqué, Information Circular No 68 dated 6th Oct 2005, by the Registrar to all staff members in Arusha, Kigali and The Hague, Dieng disclosed that between end of August and early September 2005, allegations of impropriety surfaced relating to the recruitment process for the vacant post of the Chief of the Defense Counsel and Detention Management Section.
He further noted that an anonymous source circulated what appeared to correspondence between Mr. Roland Amoussouga and one of the applicants for the post. The correspondences contained copies of documents and other confidential information related to the recruitment process.
Following the saga, Adama Dieng immediately appointed an independent fact finding panel to investigate the allegations.
"On 4th Oct 2005, the investigative panel submitted its report. The conclusions of the panel indicate that the allegations that Mr. Amoussouga shared confidential information relating to the recruitment process may be well founded. I have therefore, decided to report the case to the Assistant Secretary General in charge of Human Resources in New York for appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with the applicable United Nations regulations (ST/AI/173)," the communiqué read in part.
Interview saga
Togolese-born Roland Amoussouga's woes started when he allegedly leaked interview questionnaires meant for short listed candidates for the post of Chief of Defense Counsel and Detention Management Section (DCDMS) to favour his French friend, one Pascal Besnier.
It is said that Amoussouga ensured that Besnier, whom he refers to as 'my dear beloved brother' in the numerous mails the duo wrote to each other, passed the exam but that the ploy was unearthed by the Tribunal's Electronic Processing Department (EDP) as the new appointee prepared to fly to Arusha for his new assignment.
A 53-page collection of internet mails tracked by the EDP indicates that more officials were involved in the saga.
This was collaborated by a highly-placed source, who told The New Times Investigative Desk that a number of high ranking ICTR staff members in Arusha were involved in the plot to recruit Besnier "but it was Amoussouga who was instrumental".
"The zeal with which Amoussouga wanted Besnier to fill the vacant post leaves a question mark as to whether there were no other intentions," the source added.
He was also linked to a string of corruption allegations and other scandalous actions, the source, who sought anonymity, said adding: "he seems to have lost the guts to carry on; he has not even been reporting for work ever since."
In the past, Kigali lodged a complaint with the ICTR accusing Amoussouga's office for revealing the identities of prosecution witness.
Meanwhile, sections of the public have expressed concern about Adama Dieng's interim decision to retain Amoussouga and assign him 'other duties'.
"The panel set up to investigate his scandal proved beyond reasonable doubt that the allegations against him were 'well founded,'" a judicial official in Kigali said adding: "the handsomely-funded ICTR has spent its entire ten years of existence struggling with a string of scandals emanating from administrative inefficiencies.
Faced with a 2010 deadline to complete its work, the Tribunal has so far indicted 81 people, convicted twenty two, with three acquittals.
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