At long last the trials of those accused of genocidal murder in Rwanda are getting properly under way. Yesterday saw the opening in Kigali of one of the most serious cases under Rwandan domestic law, while at Arusha in neighbouring Tanzania at the United Nations war crimes tribunal a woman witness completed nine hours of testimony against a man accused of being a ringleader of the genocide.
The credibility of the judicial process has been badly affected by these long delays in bringing accused people to trial, as some 90,000 languish on remand in dreadful conditions. Genocidal murder was made all the easier because of the tradition of impunity in Rwanda, which was encouraged during the period of colonial rule by Germany and Belgium. There were long delays in putting sufficient resources in place to conduct the trials that have now started. Legislation providing for due process and classifying penalties was only completed last autumn and was followed by the appointment of hundreds of judges to hear the cases. There was great reluctance on the part of the international community to provide the resources necessary to set up this judicial structure, which helped to delay resolution of the refugee crises in Zaire, Burundi and Tanzania. Without justice being seen to be done it was always going to be difficult to begin the return to some kind of political normality after the murder of an estimated 800,000 people.
It has taken military and political initiatives by the Rwandan government and other regional forces in recent months to break the several impasses that characterised the conflicts in the Great Lakes region. Separation of the Hutu militias from the mass of the refugees in eastern Zaire triggered the return of some half a million people to Rwanda; this was followed last month by the repatriation of several hundreds of thousands more from Tanzania. Now that this has been accomplished it is all the more urgent to encourage the regional talks about a settlement which have been under consideration for months now. On the basis of an established, if belated and tortuously slow judicial process a greater momentum towards political negotiations should be possible.
During its EU presidency Ireland played an honourable role in encouraging this process, although it was constrained by the consensual requirements of that office. There is more room for manoeuvre and for resolute initiative now that it is over; the Minister responsible for development co-operation, Ms Joan Burton, is to be commended for her continuing commitment to the issues involved.
There must be no sanctuary for those accused of war crimes and every effort must be made to bring those responsible to justice. Some 2,500 people have been taken into custody, many of them voluntarily, from among the refugees returning to Rwanda. But the longer the delays in bringing people to trial, however summarily, the greater the likelihood that witnesses will be intimidated or murdered. Now that the judicial process has got under way it is essential that it be continued to a fair and just conclusion.