The trio have been competing with colleagues from the University of Lay Adventists of Kigali (UNILAK), Kigali Independent University (ULK) and the University of Kigali (UoK).
After competing before a jury composed with international armed conflicts law experts, the trio representing UR law students were selected to represent the country in Arusha on November 18th to 27th in the competition that bring together law students from English speaking countries in Africa.
The competition’s format is a simulated war-crimes trial, in which the teams take turns playing the roles of both the prosecution and the defence.
Speaking on behalf of the UR’s winning team, Elysée Rugundana said that they learnt a lot in the competition and he is optimistic that his team will shine in Arusha.
“They are different articles on law governing aarmed conflicts that I was not aware of, I was also not aware of suitable behaviors in court. I learnt much about the difference between international armed conflicts and internal armed conflicts” he said.
According to the Head of RCRC delegation in Rwanda, Pascal Cuttat the competition aims at raising awareness about international law governing armed conflicts and sensitizing all people to implement them as a way to avoid armed conflicts which results in negative impacts to civilians and their properties from across the World
“Our organization will continue to support these competitions and other activities aimed at sensitizing population on implementation of international laws governing armed conflicts” said Cuttat
UR team will be fully sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which is also the organizer of the competition both locally and internationally.
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