Lack of resources affecting UN war crimes tribunals

The UN tribunals prosecuting mass killings in the Bosnian war from 1992-95 and the 1994 Rwandan massacres have said that their legal process is hampered by inadequate resources.

Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly last week, the tribunals’ two presidents explained that the policy of only offering short-term contracts has led to the departure of some of their most experienced staff.

Judge Patrick Robinson, president of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, said 21 per cent of the staff in the judges chambers has left.

Judge Dennis Byron is the president of the tribunal trying those who planned and carried out the murder of approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1994...he said his court's progress is being hampered.

Another issue delaying the completion of the tribunals is that 10 of the suspects in the Rwanda genocide remain fugitives and Byron called on the international community to help bring them to justice.