In the course of the first week of April 2024, the three Principals of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), President Graciela Gatti Santana, Prosecutor Serge Brammertz and Registrar Abubacarr M. Tambadou, are visiting Rwanda.
The main purpose of this visit is the Mechanism Principals’ attendance at a solemn ceremony of remembrance to mark the thirtieth commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (Kwibuka30), which will be initiated in Kigali on Sunday, 7 April 2024. The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and other senior officials of the Rwandan government will deliver remarks during the ceremony.
In anticipation of this solemn event, all three Mechanism Principals wish to convey their utmost respect for the victims and survivors of these atrocities and their admiration for the resilience of the Rwandan people who rebuilt their nation and continue making progress in achieving forgiveness and restoring inter-ethnic relations. The Mechanism would also like to reiterate on this occasion its steadfast commitment to ensuring that the judicial findings of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Mechanism about the Genocide are widely accessible and are utilised in the fight against the divisive phenomenon of genocide denial, as well as in assisting the delivery of justice before national courts.
Prior to the main commemorative event, the President and the Registrar of the Mechanism will also attend, on 5 April 2024, a conference bringing together Rwandan and international lawyers, activists and others to discuss the duty to protect the truth and fight denial. Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana, will open the event.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) was established by UN Security Council Resolution 1966 (2010) to complete the remaining work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia after the completion of their respective mandates. The Mechanism has two branches, one in Arusha, Tanzania, and one in The Hague, Netherlands. (End)