Genocide—ICTR Cooperator/Accused Found Dead

A former Rwandan Commerce Minister, Juvenal Uwilingiyimana, was confirmed dead this week in Belgium, where he had lived under refugee status since 1998.^[1] His family reported him missing on November 22, 2005, just days after his last interview with authorities at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); his body was discovered in a Brussels canal on December 17.^[2]

The former Commerce Minister was indicted in June 2005 for genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the massacres that took place in Rwanda in 1994.^[3] The execution of his August 2005 arrest warrant was held in abeyance in exchange for his cooperation with the ICTR. Although interviews throughout the last year and a half have been voluntary, the Tribunal reported that the Minister expressed concerns for himself and his family from “powerful persons in the Rwandan exile community” as recently as a November 2 interview.^[4] Ultimately, the Prosecutor would probably have required Mr. Uwilingiyimana to testify at the trials of other ICTR indictees in exchange for consideration regarding his own indictment.

Upon hearing the news, the Tribunal's Prosecutor, Hassan Jallow, conveyed sincere condolences to the family. In a published statement, the ICTR acknowledged that by cooperating with the Prosecutor some individuals “mark themselves forever as traitors in some parts of their community and run the risk that vengeance will be taken against them or against their families.”^[5] In this case the Office of the Prosecutor undertook extraordinary measures and admitted that they would consider those protective measures inadequate if the Minister’s death is found to be a homicide. The ICTR called on Belgian police to “arrest and try those responsible for a crime that obstructs justice for the victims of the Rwanda genocide.”^[6]

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[1] Rwanda: Body Found in Brussels Canal Confirmed That of Ex-Minister's, IRIN News, Dec. 23, 2005, available here.
[2] ICTR Indictee Juvenal Uwilingiyimana Confirmed Dead, ICTR Press Release, Dec. 23, 2005, available here.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.