The Registrar of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) John Hocking Tuesday todl Hirondelle News agency the final destination of archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) remained on hands of the United Nations Security Council. Rwanda has been demanding rights of hosting archives of the Tribunal after its closure, claiming that it was its natural destination. During officials launching of the Arusha Branch of the Mechanism on July 2, 2012, the Rwandan Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga said they needed frank discussions with the Mechanism on various issues, including archives aspect.
But in an interview with Hirondelle News Agency, Hocking explained that “The Security Council Resolution 1966 will be reviewed after four years and I do not know what can happen in four years. I certainly do not have crystal goal, but currently what I have to work on is the Security Council Resolution and that it provides that the archives co-located with the two branches of the Mechanism at least for the next four years.”
According to the Resolution 1966 adopted at the end of 2010, the Mechanism established to assume some essential functions of ICTR and that of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) shall have two branches, one in Arusha and the other in The Hague, where the two Tribunals are respectively based.
“In that Resolution, the Security Council provides that the location of archives will be, for the ICTY archives with The Hague branch of the Mechanism and for the ICTR achieves with the Arusha branch of the Mechanism and my job is to implement the Security Council Resolution, which is what I am doing,” Hocking said.
He explained further that on July 1, 2012, when the Arusha branch of the Mechanism started operating, a number of functions moved from ICTR to the Mechanism, including the archives in records management for some closed cases of the ICTR and the protection of witnesses from such cases.
Other functions handed over to the Mechanism, the Registrar said, were assistance to national jurisdictions that conduct investigations on Rwandans suspected of taking part in the 1994 Tutsi genocide and tracking of the nine remaining fugitives from the ICTR.
According to Hocking, as of July 1, 2012, the responsibility for the monitoring of enforcement of sentences of convicts in Mali and Benin was also transferred from the ICTR to the Mechanism.
He said that prior to that date he had engaged a very intense outreach effort, informing all member states of the United Nations of the establishment of the Mechanism, including Mali and Benin, of the transfer of such responsibility.
Asked what would be the safety of convicts following political conflicts in Mali currently, Hocking quickly responded that the United Nations Department of Safety and Security and the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Mali have assured him that “given the location of the prison that the convicts are, perfectly secured and they are far removed from where the problems are in Mali.”
Currently, nineteen convicts are serving their sentences in Mali, while 14 are serving theirs in Benin.
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