(ICTR) has reflected on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Tribunal, saying it has played a pioneering and transformative role in the establishment of a credible international criminal justice system, such as ground-breaking jurisprudence on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The full text of his reflection reads below:
Thirty years ago, on 8 November 1994, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to end impunity for mass atrocity crimes by establishing the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in response to the1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in which more than 800,000 men, women and children lost their lives.
Today, I pay tribute to the victims of the Genocide, and the courageous survivors who testified before the ICTR.
Without them, it would have been impossible to hold accountable, persons responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law. The ICTR played a pioneering and transformative role in the establishment of a credible international criminal justice system, such as ground-breaking jurisprudence on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as entrenching the legal principles on victim and witness protection, individual criminal responsibility and superior responsibility.
As we mark thirty years since the establishment of the ICTR, I express my profound admiration for the witnesses. I laud them for their courage and contributions to international justice and national reconciliation. I reaffirm the Mechanism’s commitment to protect the victims and witnesses, and to safeguard the legacy of the ICTR through the preservation of the archives. I also wish to acknowledge, with deep gratitude and appreciate the ICTR and Mechanism staff members who worked tirelessly and with steadfast dedication and commitment to international justice.
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