The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) has appointed three judges for the trial of Félicien Kabuga in Arusha. Two women and one man will be asked to deal with the case of the alleged genocidaire.
The President of IRMCT), Carmel Agius, appointed three judges to the Trial Chamber on Thursday 1 October. They are the President, Iain Bonomy of Scotland, Graciela Susana Gatti Santana of Uruguay and Elizabeth Ibanda-Nahamya of Uganda. They take office as soon as Félicien Kabuga is transferred to Arusha for trial.
On 30 September, the Court of Cassation in France upheld the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal to transfer Félicien Kabuga to the IRMCT in Arusha for trial. It rejected all the arguments of the plaintiff seeking to remain in France. This is the last legal recourse in France. This court has one month to hand over this “big fish” to the IRMCT.
Félicien Kabuga is accused of being the main financier of the 1994 Tutsi genocide. He is accused of having founded and financed the Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) which propagated ethnic hatred during the Tutsi genocide, of having created the Interahamwe militia and of having financed the purchase of the machetes that were used for the massacre of the Tutsi.
He was arrested in the Paris suburbs on 16 May. He was residing there under a false identity. He had been on the run since 1994.
Gérard Rugambwa
