The Mechanism is very pleased to announce that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres, has appointed Judge Lydia N. Mugambe Ssali of Uganda to the roster of Judges of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism).

The OTP is satisfied that the Appeals Chamber accepted our arguments that Stanišić and Simatović are criminally liable as participants in a joint criminal enterprise for a significant number of horrific crimes committed against innocent civilians. The Appeals Chamber confirmed that this joint criminal enterprise comprised, in addition to Stanišić and Simatović, many senior Serbian, Croatian Serb and Bosnian Serb political, military, and police leaders.

The Appeals Chamber of the Mechanism, composed of Judge Graciela Gatti Santana (Presiding), Judge Lee G. Muthoga, Judge Aminatta Lois Runeni N'gum, Judge Yusuf Aksar, and Judge Claudia Hoefer, delivered today its judgement on the appeals filed by Mr. Jovica Stanišić, Mr. Franko Simatović, and the Office of the Prosecutor (“Prosecution”) against the judgement in the case of Prosecutor v. Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, pronounced on 30 June 2021 and filed in writing on 6 August 2021 by the Trial Chamber of the Mechanism.

On the occasion of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the President, Prosecutor and Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) reflected on the ICTY’s legacy and impact. Joining them was the President of the Association of Defence Counsel Practising before the International Courts and Tribunals (ADC-ICT). 

Yesterday afternoon, Fulgence Kayishema – one of the world’s most wanted genocide fugitives – was arrested in Paarl, South Africa in a joint operation by the IRMCT Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) Fugitive Tracking Team and South African authorities.

Kayishema is alleged to have orchestrated the killing of approximately 2000 Tutsi refugees – women, men, children and elderly – at the Nyange Catholic Church during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. He has been at large since 2001.

Today, the Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP) was pleased to launch its latest informational product, entitled: Guide for History Teachers: How to Use Archival Material of the ICTY and Mechanism in Teaching the History of the 1990s conflicts (Guide).

Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), Serge Brammertz is visiting Republic of Croatia from 24 to 25 April 2023, as part of preparations for his regular biannual report to the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), Serge Brammertz is visiting Republic of Serbia from 20 to 21 April 2023, as part of preparations for his regular biannual report to the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The Prosecutor will meet with senior Serbian representatives to discuss cooperation between the Mechanism Office of the Prosecutor and Serbia, Serbian authorities’ efforts to achieve justice for war crimes, regional judicial cooperation in war crimes cases and the implementation of the National War Crimes Strategy.

The President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, today concluded her official visit to the Republic of Rwanda (Rwanda). The visit took place on the occasion of the Twenty-Ninth Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (Kwibuka29).

Yesterday, the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, participated in an official Commemoration Ceremony marking the Thirtieth Anniversary of crimes committed in Ahmići, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

President Gatti Santana delivered remarks at the Commemoration Ceremony, alongside a number of dignitaries and representatives of victims’ associations, and afterwards paid her respects to the victims of the crimes by laying flowers in their honour.