RWANDA-U.N.: Top War Crimes Tribunal Officials Resign

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 26 1997 (IPS) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Wednesday that two of the three top officials in the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda are resigning, following a report blasting the tribunal for rampant mismanagement.

Annan accepted the resignations of both officials — deputy prosecutor Honore Rakotomanana of Madagascar and registrar Andronico Adede of Kenya — only six days after discussing with the two men and prosecutor Louise Arbour of Canada the failings of the tribunal.

During his meetings, Annan “concluded that the findings of the (U.N.) investigation that there are serious management and operational deficiencies required decisive action,” said U.N. spokesman Juan Carlos Brandt.

“The secretary-general decided that the continuation of the two officials of the tribunal in their posts would not be in the best interests of the United Nations and of the work of the tribunal in a case involving human tragedy of incalculable proportion,” Brandt said.

But the U.N. spokesman added that the U.N. investigation of the tribunal, led last year by Under-Secretary-General Karl Theodor Paschke, concluded in its report released this month that it found “no evidence of corruption or misuse of funds” by the tribunal.

Annan named Agwu Okali, a Nigerian official working for the U.N. Centre for Human Settlements, or Habitat, in Nairobi, to replace Adede. A replacement for Rakotomanana is to be announced shortly.

“You can call them resignations if you like,” said one U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But it’s no secret they were fired.”

The widely publicised problems with the tribunal in fact have become Annan’s first major test of his skills as a reformer following his induction as secretary-general last month.

The resignations are also the strongest effort so far by the United Nations to address the problems of the tribunal, which was entrusted to try war crimes suspects involved in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, but has so far put only one suspect, former Mayor Jean- Paul Akayesu of Taba, on trial.

The Paschke report says that “not a single administrative area of the registry…functioned effectively,” and cites “mismanagement in almost all areas of the tribunal and frequent violations of U.N. rules and regulations.”

Among other things, the report complains of Adede’s frequent travels and direct control of most tribunal operations, the “leadership void” in Rakotomanana’s office, and the frequent bickering between the two men.

Rakotomanana, whose deputy prosecutor’s office is based in Kigali, Rwanda, complained bitterly of what he called his “strained and testy” relationship with Adede, who was in charge of the tribunal’s registry, based in Arusha, Tanzania.

“The registrar has never failed to remind us of his pre- eminence rather than his readiness to carry out the mission which has brought us all together,” Rakotomanana told Paschke’s team. Workers in both offices complained of a lack of cooperation and of basic facilities with which to perform their tasks.

But both men denied other charges leaked to the media — including allegations of nepotism and corruption which were not confirmed by the Paschke report — and some tribunal staffers blamed the problems on racism against African officials.

Annan, however, said last week that the tribunal’s efficiency had been impaired, and U.N. officials indicated that at least a few of the top officials would be held responsible.

The Paschke report, which advised that Arbour should appoint a deputy prosecutor “with substantial leadership skills and relevant experience in the running of a prosecutorial office,” had already hinted at Rakotomanana’s dismissal. But it had credited Adede with handling “daunting tasks” in “a difficult environment,” making his resignation more of a surprise.

Arbour, who is also prosecutor of the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, is likely to stay on in her post, despite complaints from the Rwandan government accusing her of lacking sympathy for victims of war crimes during her career as a judge in Canada.

“Nobody believes she is not qualified, and no-one seems to have questioned her candidature,” said U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki. Ueki added that Arbour has enjoyed the confidence of the secretary- general and the U.N. Security Council.