The ICTR has made its presence felt within Rwandan society. Initially, it refused to transfer cases to the domestic courts of Rwanda because it was not satisfied that they would dispense justice according to international fair trial standards. More particularly, the ICTR judges were not prepared to render ICTR defendants to the local courts and subject them to possible death sentences or to long periods of solitary confinement. The judges were concerned that defence witnesses would not be adequately protected and their safety guaranteed. In consequence, Rwanda completely abolished the death sentence, amended its laws relating to witness protection and prison sentences and modernised the prisons in which defendants referred by the ICTR could be confined.

Some years ago I visited the impressive Genocide Museum in Kigali. It commemorates not only the Rwandan genocide but also other genocides committed during 20th Century. In the moving portrayal of the slaughter of its own people, I was struck by the extent to which reliance is placed upon the work of the ICTR. Without that legacy much of the factual history that antedated and accompanied the worst genocide since the Second World War would not have been available to the people of Rwanda. It would not be taught adequately in the schools and universities of Rwanda.

The most frequent criticism of the ICTR relates to its high cost - in excess of $1 billion. However, that must be judged in the context of the inevitable high cost of dispensing justice fairly. The investigations that were required by the OTP were substantial and for some twenty-one years hundreds of international highly trained judges, investigators, lawyers and other officials were required to work at the seat of the Tribunal in Arusha. A court building had to be provided and courtrooms fitted with state of the art facilities. Those accused had to be assured of adequate defence and the prison conditions under which awaiting trial prisoners were kept had to comply with United Nations standards. The funding for the ICTR came from the general budget of the United Nations and was augmented by voluntary contributions from supportive governments. Had there been no ICTR those funds would hardly have been made available for other programs in Rwanda.

The fact that the principal offenders were tried and convicted by the ICTR materially assisted Rwanda in adopting the tribal system of gacaca” , a robust form of village justice for those who were less culpable. It enabled the overcrowded prisons to be effectively emptied of awaiting trial prisoners. That system would not have gained credibility with the people of Rwanda absent the trial and conviction of the leaders who were responsible for organising and ordering the commission of the genocide.

The work of the ICTR and the ICTY brought to an end impunity for war criminals. They were the precursors of a new world in which leaders who commit international crimes are no longer assured that they would be granted impunity. That assurance is by no means universal and it is unfortunate that some sought to be arrested to stand trial for heinous crimes are still on the run. However, the work of the two United Nations tribunals, together with that of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (set up jointly by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone), convinced the majority of the members of the global community that international criminal justice had become a necessity. That resulted in the adoption of the Rome Treaty in 1998, its ratification by 193 States and the establishment in The Hague of the International Criminal Court, the jurisdiction of which opened in July 2002. The ICC faces serious political problems, not the least, the absence as States Parties of China, India, Russia and the United States.

I am confident that in spite of the present problems faced by the ICC it will continue to function and stand as a warning to leaders, both civilian and military, that they may not commit war crimes with impunity. That is the greatest and most valuable legacy of the ICTR and ICTY.