Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
23 October 2007
Arusha — Officials for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), who received Tuesday a delegation of Western diplomats stationed in Kigali, called for the reinforcement of their co-operation with the United National Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and with the government of Kinshasa for the arrest of fugitives.
This appeal was launched at a meeting at the headquarters of the Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania with diplomats representing in Kigali the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and the European Union. This delegation, after having attended a hearing, held a meeting with the ICTR officials before visiting, in the afternoon, the United Nations detention center.
According to the spokesperson of the tribunal, Roland Amoussouga, the discussions between the ICTR officials and the diplomats related to "the reinforcement of the co-operation between MONUC, the ICTR and the DRC to facilitate the execution of the ICTR mandate". "We have wanted persons who are suspected of being in the DRC", he explained.
The prosecutor of the ICTR, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, stated on 18 June before the Security Council, that the majority of fugitives would be hiding in the DRC. "I believe a broader view of the MONUC mandate which would facilitate collaboration between that mission, the DRC and the ICTR will help us achieve good results", he had then proposed.
Still on the subject of tracking fugitives, the ICTR intends "to request the diplomatic support of the member countries of the Commonwealth during their summit scheduled for next month in Kampala", affirmed Amoussouga. This point had been discussed with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Don McKinnon, during his last visit to the ICTR at the beginning of June.
According to the tribunal, the most wanted person, businessman Félicien Kabuga, the alleged financier of the genocide, circulates freely in Kenya, a member country of the Commonwealth.
In all, 14 persons are still wanted by the ICTR.
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