Indicted Rwandan cooperating with ICTR genocide probe found dead News
Indicted Rwandan cooperating with ICTR genocide probe found dead

[JURIST] A body found in a canal in Brussels, Belgium, was identified on Friday as that of an indicted Rwandan ex-minister cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website]. Former Rwandan Commerce Minister Juvenal Uwilingiyimana was indicted by ICTR in June 2005 for conspiracy, incitement and murder in connection with its ongoing probe of the 1994 genocide, which resulted in the deaths of more than 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus [BBC report]. Uwilingiyimana expressed his desire to cooperate and was speaking to investigators but disappeared on November 21. Recognizing that "by cooperating with the Prosecutor…individuals mark themselves forever as traitors in some parts of their community and run the risk that vengeance will be taken against them or against their families", the ICTR took "extraordinary measures" to protect him, but his death appears to have confirmed his concerns about his own safety and that of his family. The ICTR's Prosecutor's Office Friday expressed the hope Belgian authorities would be able to apprehend and try those responsible for his death [ICTR press release]. UN News has more.