The decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (please see following pages) bring to practical life the lofty ideals of the Genocide Convention. Through the Tribunal, the Convention has been lifted from the statute books to become, 50 years after its adoption in the wake of the Holocaust, a testament to the world's renewed determination to collectively tackle genocide in a manner it never has before. The Tribunal was created after one of the most intense periods of mass exterminations in human history. At least 500,000 people, primarily Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were brutally massacred in just three months in the middle of that year.

"The success of this Court in prosecuting genocide is a historic milestone and a defining example of the ability of the United Nations to create institutions which fulfil the highest aspirations of mankind", observed Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 30 August.

It is the international nature of this effort to prosecute genocidaires that has made it possible for the Tribunal to make such historic headway. The Tribunal was established by the Security Council, and its impartiality assured by the appointment of some of the world's most prominent judges and prosecutors from all five continents. It was successful in obtaining an extraordinary level of international cooperation in apprehending those sought by it, with 11 countries participating in the exercise thus far.

Equal skill was needed by the Tribunal to locate the traumatized witnesses of the genocide in widely dispersed countries, communities and refugee camps, and obtain their agreement to testify in Arusha despite the inherent risks of such testimony.

• The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was established in November 1994 by the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Chapter. The Tribunal is based in Arusha, the United Republic of Tanzania.

• The ICTR is the first international body charged specifically with prosecuting crimes of genocide. The Tribunal's jurisdiction extends to serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda, and to Rwandan citizens responsible for such violations committed in neighbouring States, between 1 January and 31 December 1994.

• The Nüremberg and Tokyo trials, organized by the Allies, were the first to prosecute and punish war crimes and crimes against humanity. The death penalty was available in those trials.

• The maximum sentence the Tribunal can impose is life imprisonment; those tried and found guilty in Rwandan courts can be sentenced to death.

• In addition to Kambanda and Akayesu, three other accused are being tried currently in two separate trials.

• The Tribunal has issued indictments against 35 individuals; 26 of them are in custody in Arusha, and one in the United States. The other 8 indictees have not yet been apprehended. Five suspects are also in custody. All come from what Tribunal Registrar Agwu Okali calls "the commanding heights" of Rwanda's governing elite during the time the genocide took place. They were arrested by countries across Africa and Europe and delivered to the Tribunal in Arusha.

• Of the 31 persons in custody in Arusha, 10 were arrested and transferred from Kenya, 6 from Cameroon and 3 from Zambia; others were delivered by Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Switzerland and Togo. All those arrested within Rwanda are tried by Rwandan courts.

• Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, who was a Government Minister, is the first woman ever to be indicted for genocide. Two other former ministers have also been indicted: Andre Ntagerura and Theoneste Bagosora.

• Judge Laïty Kama of Senegal is the President of the Tribunal; the Vice-President is Judge Yakov Ostrovsky of Russia. The four other judges are from the United Republic of Tanzania, Sweden, South Africa and Bangladesh. They were elected by the United Nations General Assembly in May 1995 for four-year terms. On 30 April, the Security Council decided to establish a third Trial Chamber and increase the number of judges. (Detailed report in our Peacewatch section).

• Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald of the United States presides over the Appeals Chamber, which also serves the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The Vice-President is Judge Mohammed Shahabuddeen of Guyana. The other three members of the Appeals Chamber are from China, Colombia and Malaysia.

• Justice Louise Arbour of Canada heads the Prosecutor's office of the ICTR, which also serves the ICTY. The Deputy Prosecutor, dealing exclusively with ICTR, is Bernard Muna of Cameroon. The ICTR Prosecutor's Office is based in Kigali, Rwanda. (An article on the International Criminal Court, co-authored by Justice Louise Arbour, at the Chronicle's invitation, appears on page 13.)