[JURIST] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile; JURIST news archive] on Friday pledged his ongoing support [press release] for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [JURIST news archive] and stressed that the international community must continue to combat genocide. Ban also asked for help [The New Times report] in the search for thirteen people suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. It is suspected that the fugitives have been able to avoid capture by hiding in neighboring states. Felicien Kabuga [advocacy website], who allegedly financed the genocide campaign, is among those sought and is believed to be living in Nairobi. In the speech, Ban also urged the ICTR to accelerate work on its major tasks in order to meet the 2010 deadline set by the UN Security Council [Resolution 1503, PDF; JURIST report].

The ICTR has made significant progress toward completing its mandate, prompting the US State Department to praise [JURIST report] the court's work in its most recent human rights report, released on Thursday. On Friday, the ICTR sentenced [JURIST report] former priest and military chaplain Emmanuel Rukundo [case materials] to 25 years imprisonment after convicting [press release] him of genocide, crimes against humanity, and sexual assault. The contempt trial for a former ICTR defense investigator began earlier this month, and in January a former justice official was sentenced [JURIST reports] to life in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide.