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The top officials of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia have outlined a number of challenges to their work, ranging from the health of the defendants to the “daunting” task of trying to relocate those acquitted or who have already served their sentences.

Theodor Meron, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, told the Security Council that the health of accused individuals and staff attrition had caused delays in some cases. The so-called Residual Mechanism is mandated to take over and finish the remaining tasks of both tribunals once their mandates expire.

But Mr. Meron said: “By the end of this year, the forecasts provided by presiding Judges indicate that the ICTY will have completed its work on all but two trials and two appeals.”

“While various cases have suffered delays, these can each be counted as a matter of months, and the last cases are still expected to be completed in 2017, as predicted in the ICTY’s previous forecasts,” he said.

Mr. Meron also reassured Council members that ”when the history of the ICTY is written, it is this legacy, not limited delays in projected delivery dates, that will be remembered and, I believe, celebrated.”

ICTY Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said the countries of the former Yugoslavia continued to cooperate with the Office and to respond, as needed, to requests for assistance. This included, on high-profile cases, joint arrest operations conducted by the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

Mr. Brammertz also said the trial judgments of former Serbian leader Vojislav Seselj and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic are “estimated to be delivered later this year.”

The President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Vagn Joensen, said the Appeals Chamber had completed its work with respect to all appeals from the trial judgments, with the exception of Nyiramasuhuko et al. – or the Butare case – concerning six persons and that the formal closure of the Tribunal is still expected to occur before the end of 2015.

He also drew attention to “the very troubling issue of relocating the acquitted and convicted released persons still residing in Arusha,” the Tanzanian city where the Tribunal is based.

“The issue of relocation remains a daunting one and the challenges that the ICTR has faced with relocating these persons, some of which have been residing in a UN safe house for over a decade, have been brought to this Council’s attention on numerous occasions,” he said.

Hassan B. Jallow, the Prosecutor of the Rwanda Tribunal and of the International Residual Mechanism for both courts, said the Mechanism Office of the Prosecutor continued to take over functions from the Rwanda and former Yugoslavia Tribunals.

Source: UN News Centre

Zambian Foreign Minister Harry Kalaba said Sunday that his country is looking to strengthen bilateral ties with Rwanda.

Kalaba, who is in Rwanda for a three-day official visit, told reporters that his visit to Rwanda aims at bolstering the existing good relations between the two countries.

Kalaba, who on Sunday visited Kigali Genocide Memorial centre to pay tribute to the over 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide laid to rest at the site, said that Rwanda has shown resilience in the face of unimaginable tragedies.

“There are many Rwandan refugees living in Zambia and there should be mechanisms to repatriate them back home because this country is safe and secure and I don’t know why some people are still refugees in our country,” he noted.

“Our relationship with Rwanda is good but our focus is to further cement our bilateral relations and cooperation, especially in the areas of diplomacy, social affairs and economy,” he said.

He stated that Zambia can learn a lot from Rwanda and vice versa, and both countries can help each other to achieve prosperity for their people.

As part of his visit, Zambian official on Saturday toured the Kigali special economic zone to ascertain Rwanda steps to build strong and viable industries.

Jeanine Kambanda, Rwanda’s permanent secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs, said that Rwanda and Zambia enjoy cordial relations and the visit by the minister will cement it further.

“We will discuss ways on how we can increase our cooperation in various social and economic affairs,” she noted.

In March, Rwanda and Zambia embarked on efforts to repatriate thousands of Rwandan refugees living in the southern African country.

The initiative followed a similar one held in Lusaka, Zambia in July 2013 that saw the launch of issuance of Rwandan passports to refugees in the country.

According to figures from the Ministry for Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs (Midmar), only 25 out of an estimated 4,000 Rwandan refugees in Zambia have received Rwandan passports but none has repatriated ever since the cessation clause was invoked on Rwandan refugees in June 2013.

According to the cessation clause, all Rwandan refugees, living in different countries across the world are required to repatriate voluntarily or integrate in their host countries.

The other option is for them to return home, acquire national identification documents, and if they so wish, return to the host countries.

About 242 Rwandan refugees have repatriated from Zambia since 1994.

Xinhua News Agency

Rwanda National Police (RNP) has arrested a man suspected of impersonating the Minister of Defense, Gen. James Kabarebe, in order to con people of their money.

The suspect, Jacques Mugema, committed the crime through social Media platform – Facebook – where he created two fake account; one claiming to be James Kabarebe and another one for his secretary, under the pretence of offering shortcut services to whoever paid a specified sum of money through a mobile money account he provided.

Preliminary investigations indicate that after identifying a potential victim, he would direct them to talk to his ghost secretary on another Facebook account and phone contacts, which also belonged to him.

Through that account, Mugema is suspected to have collected Rwf791,000 from his victims in a period spanning over a year.

After police investigations, Mugema was arrested on June 6 and is currently detained at Nyamirambo Police Station as further investigations continue.

Police Spokesperson for the Central Region, Superintendent Modeste Mbabazi, said that citizens who believed he was the real Minister Kabarebe often spoke to him through his Facebook inbox – and it is where he suggested that they pay some “little money” in order for their challenges to be solved.

“He created conversations with those who contacted him and eventually, after learning any of their challenges, he would ask them to pay a sum of money through a telephone number he provided them with,” Superintendent Mbabazi said.

“Victims often called the number to verify if the payment had been received and the suspect would answer, claiming this time that he is the secretary of the Minister and had received the amount on his behalf.”

Superintendent Mbabazi revealed that this is not the first time that Mugema has been caught up in such shoddy activities – and has in the past tried to impersonate several other individuals in order to con people.

He also warned Rwandans against falling prey to such conmen by using approved channels to get government services and also verifying the authenticity of the people they interact with on social media platforms.

“Do not give your hard earned money to someone through any technology channel unless you have verified who they are. Secondly, do not believe in such shortcut services. Every service offered in Rwanda has a clear and specific place where it can be attained or accessed. People shouldn’t be cheated under such shortcuts in normal circumstances can also be viewed as another form of corruption and punishable by the law,” he said.

“Criminals seek to use technology to their advantage, but Police will continue to ensure that the country is protected from such activities. Those with information that can facilitate investigations should always approach police as quick as possible.”

Article 318 of the penal code states that anyone who obtains the property of another person by fraud or by intentionally using false names, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of three to five years and a fine between Rwf3 million and Rwf5 million.

Rwanda Media Commission (RMC), the Media Self-regulatory Body in Rwanda, has scooped a global prize in tackling the ethical dimensions of the information society at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland. The prize award ceremony was conducted on 26th May 2015, at the headquarters of the International telecommunication Union in Geneva, Switzerland.

The World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2015 represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community.

The WSIS Forum, co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators/Co-Facilitators, is a co-ordination mechanism for multistakeholder activities, information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices as well as public/private partnerships to advance development goals through Information and Communication Technologies.

As part of the activities of the Summit, prizes are awarded to excellent global projects in the ICT sector in 18 categories through a global competitive process.

RMC submitted a project in the category “Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society”.

RMC’s project is titled “Tackling Ethical Dimensions of Online Media Content through Self-regulation”.

The project summarizes the impact of the fast growing online media sector on media regulation in Rwanda, and how RMC as a self-regulatory body is dealing with the ethical and professional dimensions of this sector.

It highlights RMC’s approach which includes regular meetings with online news editors based on the Code of Ethics, regular conversations with editors when ethical gaps are noted, and a plan of developing online complaints handling procedures.

After two phases of evaluation, RMC’s project made it to the nomination stage which included 7 projects in this category to be voted for by stakeholders.

The voting resulted in the RMC project being amongst the top three most voted for and appreciated projects in this category. Finally, a jury selected the RMC project as the best in the above-mentioned category.

The WSIS Project Prizes is a unique recognition for excellence in the implementation of WSIS outcomes and provides a platform to identify and showcase success stories and models that could be easily replicated and particularly recognize the efforts of stakeholders for their added value to the society and commitment towards achieving WSIS goals.

An RMC delegation of three people is currently in Geneva to participate in the WSIS and accept the prize which will be awarded on the morning of Tuesday 26 May 2015.

They are Mr. Julius NDAYISABA who is the Executive Secretary of Rwanda Media Commission) and two Commissioners, Mrs. Emma – Claudine NTIRENGANYA and Mr. MUCYO Donatien. Besides participating in the Summit, the RMC delegation will: attend the launch of the publication “WSIS Stocktaking: Success Stories 2015”, which is a compilation of the extended descriptions of the 18 winning projects, including RMC’s project; participate in the winners’ exhibition through display of posters and other visibility materials about the work of RMC, participate in the Knowledge Café on Innovation, at which they will present a narrative on how innovation is relevant to RMC’s project and work; and participate in an interview by an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) videographer for all prize winners. The Summit, which started Monday 25th May 2015, will end on Friday 29th May 2015.

A fallen Rwandan peacekeeper will be honoured at a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday, as part of the activities to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

Corp Vincent Murangwa, who served with the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur, is among the peacekeepers who lost their lives in 2014 and who will be honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjöld medal, according to a statement from the UN.

The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal, named after the second Secretary-General of the United Nations – who died in a plane crash on his way to DR Congo in 1961 – is a posthumous award given by the UN to military personnel, police, or civilians who lose their lives while serving in a UN peacekeeping operation.

The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers will be observed on Friday, marking the seventh successive year in which the UN honours more than 100 “blue helmets” that lost their lives the previous year while serving the cause of peace.

Murangwa was killed in May, last year, during a meeting in which RDF peacekeepers had gone to mediate between two warring militia groups in Darfur, during which the militiamen became hostile and started shooting at them.

Besides Murangwa, three other peacekeepers were wounded in the fire exchange.

Rwanda, the fifth largest contributor to UN peacekeeping missions in the world, currently deploys more than 5,500 military and police personnel to the UN peace operations.

As many as 126 peacekeepers lost their lives in 2014 while serving with the UN as a result of hostile acts, accidents and natural disasters.

Source: The New Times

Rwanda is an official member of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) after it had suspended its participation in the regional bloc to pursue its reconstruction process.

Eight years after the suspension, Rwanda has signed its return during the 16th session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the organization held Monday in the Chadian capital.

Rwanda, a founding member of ECCAS, had suspended its participation in the regional institution in 2007.

On 4 April 2013, the Government had made a request for the readmission of Rwanda within ECCAS.

On Monday, in the Chadian capital, the conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS has reviewed and approved this request.

IGIHE has learnt that a reintegration agreement was jointly signed by Sheikh Musa Fazil Harerimana, Minister of Internal Security of Rwanda and Ambassador Ahmad Allam-mi, Secretary General of ECCAS.

“Our country is ready to contribute to the vision and mission of the Community. Rwanda is also committed to fulfill all its obligations under the Libreville Treaty establishing ECCAS, “said Mr. Musa Fazil Harerimana.

“ECCAS welcomes the position taken by Rwanda, which is an important pillar that can play a greater role in current efforts to bring peace, security and stability in the Great Lakes Region”, said Chadian President Deby, host of the summit.

ECCAS was established in 1983 with a mission to lead the process of cooperation and integration in Central Africa.

In 1999, at the summit in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), four objectives were assigned: the development of culture and human integration, that of analytical ability, action, and initiation of entrepreneurial action, communication and collective bargaining.

Later it was added to these objectives the development of peace, security and stability and physical, economic and monetary integration.

ECCAS is made of Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and Sao Tome and Principe.

With the reinstatement of Rwanda, it now has eleven members.

President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon has welcomed Rwanda’s request to reintegrate in the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC).

The Gabon Presidency says on its Twitter Account that President Ali Bongo Ondimba welcomes the request made by Rwanda to return to this economic bloc.

Ondimba is in N’Djamena to attend the 16th Ordinary Session of Heads of State of the Economic Community of Central African States.

The 16th Ordinary session is being held in Chad’s capital from this Monday, May 25.

The meeting is expected to address the security challenges including crisis in the Central African Republic; insurrection in northeast Nigeria with Boko Haram, among others.

The first to set foot on Chadian soil for the occasion, Sunday, May 24, was the president of the transition in Central Africa, Catherine Samba Panza. The Presidential couple of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Constancia Mangue de Obiang Nsue Okomo, also arrived yesterday.

The Head of State of Cameroon, Paul Biya, is represented in this meeting by his Prime Minister, Philemon Yang.

Sao-Tome, Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC are represented by their respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs. Angola is represented by its Ambassador accredited to Chad.

ECCAS has ten countries: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Sao Tome and Principe.

The UN Secretary-General condemns the killing of Mr. Zedi Feruzi, leader of the opposition Union pour la paix et le développement (UPD) Zigamibanga party in Burundi, and his bodyguard in Bujumbura.

This crime, as well as the despicable grenade attack in Bujumbura’s central market on 22 May that left two dead and many others injured, threaten to entrench mistrust and trigger further violence. The Secretary-General urges the Burundian authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. He extends his deepest sympathies to the families of those killed and wishes a quick recovery to the injured.

These acts of violence constitute a stark reminder of the need for all Burundian political leaders to address the current political crisis with the highest sense of responsibility and to place peace and national reconciliation above partisan interests.

The Secretary-General reiterates his calls for calm and restraint. He calls on the Burundian authorities to uphold the human rights of all Burundians, including the freedoms of assembly, association and expression, and to take concrete steps to prevent political killings and violence.

The Secretary-General encourages Burundian stakeholders to pursue the consultative political dialogue facilitated by his Special Envoy Said Djinnit and representatives of the African Union, the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. He calls on the parties to the consultative political dialogue not to be deterred by those who, through violence, seek to prevent the creation of an environment conducive to peaceful, credible and inclusive elections in Burundi.

Dr Vincent Biruta was re-elected President of The Social Democratic Party of Rwanda (PSD) during Saturday vote where members also discussed the amendment of the Rwandan Constitution to lift presidential term limits.

Biruta won 661 of 670 votes.

During this exercise, only three of the seven leading members of the party were elected back to their posts.

New entrants include the Rwandan diplomat at the UN, Olivier Nduhungirehe who was elected first vice president of the Party and Vénérande Nyirahirwa, 2nd Vice President.

The General Secretariat of the party falls to Jean Chrisostome Ngabitsinze assisted by Aurélie Gahongayire (Gender and Women’s Development) and Théodomir Niyonsenga (Youth).

During the vote Biruta thanks voters who trusted him adding that the party will invest more efforts in recruiting new members