After reports of the genocide had spread across the globe, the United Nations embraced its role as a global peace force and created a commission of experts to investigate and review the situation in Rwanda. By October of 1994, the commission provided “undeniable and overwhelming evidence that actions against the Tutsi constituted genocide.” With the concurrence of the Rwandan government, the United Nations adopted Resolution 955, which ICTR, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Chapter VII grants the power to “determine the existence of any threat to peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression.” In addition, it gives the Security Council the power to “restore international peace and security,” but does not specify any
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Jean-Paul Akayesu. Akayesu, a politician and former schoolteacher, was the designated bourgmestre (mayor) of the Taba commune. As bourgmestre, his main priority was to sustain peace and order, but his powers did not extend much further. While bourgmestre, Akayesu had initially resisted the genocide that was occurring, only to become later involved in order to maintain his political power. In 1995, Akayesu was arrested for his involvement in the mass murders. The Prosecutor argued that Akayesu had initiated the murder, capture and torture of Tutsis, and had freely allowed sexual violence to occur between the military and Tutsi women. The Prosecutor charged him on fifteen different counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of Article III of the Geneva Conventions. This case introduced rape and sexual violence as a separate category of human rights abuses, and brought attention to the violence that women face in times of …show more content…
The “establishment of accountability by a legitimate judicial body is an important step towards the creation of a culture of trust and respect for law and order.” There were five main ways in which the ICTR contributed to establishing order, which include “through creating a factual account of the genocide judicial history; issuing judicial notice confirming that there was genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda; establishing individual criminal responsibility, not group criminalization or stigmatization; giving voice to the victims to validate their experience of suffering; and providing re-education and communication to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law in Rwanda.” Prior to the existence of the Tribunal, there was no viable way of punishing those responsible for the genocide, as the country’s judicial system had virtually collapsed in the aftermath of the destruction. The Tribunal was innovative in that it punished individuals for the crimes, not the ethnic groups. Individuals from both sides of the conflict were responsible, and were punished accordingly. In addition, “those
Jean-Paul Akayesu. Akayesu, a politician and former schoolteacher, was the designated bourgmestre (mayor) of the Taba commune. As bourgmestre, his main priority was to sustain peace and order, but his powers did not extend much further. While bourgmestre, Akayesu had initially resisted the genocide that was occurring, only to become later involved in order to maintain his political power. In 1995, Akayesu was arrested for his involvement in the mass murders. The Prosecutor argued that Akayesu had initiated the murder, capture and torture of Tutsis, and had freely allowed sexual violence to occur between the military and Tutsi women. The Prosecutor charged him on fifteen different counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of Article III of the Geneva Conventions. This case introduced rape and sexual violence as a separate category of human rights abuses, and brought attention to the violence that women face in times of …show more content…
The “establishment of accountability by a legitimate judicial body is an important step towards the creation of a culture of trust and respect for law and order.” There were five main ways in which the ICTR contributed to establishing order, which include “through creating a factual account of the genocide judicial history; issuing judicial notice confirming that there was genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda; establishing individual criminal responsibility, not group criminalization or stigmatization; giving voice to the victims to validate their experience of suffering; and providing re-education and communication to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law in Rwanda.” Prior to the existence of the Tribunal, there was no viable way of punishing those responsible for the genocide, as the country’s judicial system had virtually collapsed in the aftermath of the destruction. The Tribunal was innovative in that it punished individuals for the crimes, not the ethnic groups. Individuals from both sides of the conflict were responsible, and were punished accordingly. In addition, “those