rwanda: The International Criminal Tribunal - Time for Pragmatism

The cold reality is that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) needs to be a good deal more efficient in handling trials, says a new briefing from the International Crisis Group. Among other things, it should maintain its priority of judging the main suspects from the army and 1994 government, whose trials have been set to begin in the last three months of 2003. It will only be possible to wrap up the initial proceedings within four to five years if the court vigorously reforms how its judges conduct the trials and if it refuses to start any new genocide investigations.