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contribution 34 - HASKELL Leslie

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Reconciliation

Leslie HASKELL

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I’m glad that Mr Haguma has brought the discussion back to reconciliation. I suppose I should feel very inspired by what Francois Xavier and Maitre Haguma have said in terms of national reconciliation and what the ICTR has done for people on the ground in Rwanda. Unfortunately, I don’t share the same view.

I’ve been on the ground now for two years there and have really had an opportunity to look at the question of what the impact of trials at the ICTR has been within the country, in some of the more remote places. And, frankly, I think there are lessons to be learned from that, and I’m not sure that they have been learned in what we’ve seen so far from the ICC. I don’t know whether there’s time today, but I think that’s an important point that we need to discuss in terms of where the Tribunal made decisions that either fostered reconciliation or didn’t. I mean, the truth is, on the ground, people don’t talk about the Tribunal. People don’t talk about decisions that are coming out. The Kigali regime often plays back and forth with the Tribunal. You’ll see even yesterday they have come out with a statement saying that the Tribunal is just perpetuating its own self interests in keeping its doors open and that they should close down and transfer all files back to Kigali. At other points they have been more supportive. But the reality on the ground is that the very good work of the Tribunal at times, not always, but at times has not had a significant impact and is not something that’s talked about or dealt with on a daily basis. Thank you.