The Archives of a Genocide - Where do they Stay?
from Anne @ Feministe 10 Dec 2007 10:18 am
I recently attended a conference that was co-hosted by the East Africa Law Society and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The conference was held to discuss the legacy of the ICTR court. Established by the UN in 1994 in order to prosecute those responsible for genocide in Rwanda, the court’s mandate is up in two years, after which the court will close. The conference topics ranged from how to apply the decisions in international cases, the future of international law in Africa, and how to transfer ICTR jurisprudence to Rwandan courts and/or hear cases in East African Regional Courts.
One topic that I found particularly interesting was the issue of where to house the massive archive collection that the ICTR has compiled after the court is closed. These materials include case files, appeals, exhibits, audio cassettes, video cassettes, transcripts, confidential records, etc.
According to one speaker, one of the unique aspects of the ICTR court is the fact that all evidence has been electronically recorded. Rather than bringing in a photo or an artifact for evidence, lawyers refer to a large electronic screen where the evidence is shown to the entire court. As a result, in some sense the archives can have multiple ‘houses’.
While this is true, there is apparently a movement by some to remove the physical archives from Africa and house them in the Hague. As one speaker, Yitiha Simbeye, a law professor in Tanzania pointed out in her presentation, “countless Africans will be virtually denied access if the Tribunal’s archives are relocated outside the continent and in particular to a Western country as Visa requirements and cost of travel will curtail access.”
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