UN Genocide Tribunal archives to remain in Arusha

The archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are to remain in Arusha, following a decision by the United Nations Security Council.

The ICTR confirmed that the archives would be handled by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, a framework established by the UN Security Council in December 2010 to complete the work begun by the ICTR.

The mechanism will continue the "jurisdiction, rights and obligations, and essential functions" of the ICTR from 1 July 2012.

ICTR spokesman Roland Amoussouga told Rwandans that all public information would remain accessible on the ICTR website and that Rwandan citizens should also take full advantage of the ICTR’s Information and Documentation Centre in the Rwandan capital Kigali, and there are plans to set up nine other such information centres in Rwanda.

Some Rwandan judicial officials were reportedly unhappy that the archives were remaining in Tanzania, but were optimistic that, when the ICTR finally closed Rwanda would eventually become home to the archives.

Rwanda’s justice minister Tharcisse Karugarama said that the archives should be based in the country in which the crimes were committed.