International Juridictions

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Registrar, Adama Dieng, has condemned the recent arrest of the Director of State Protocol, Rose Kabuye, describing it as disrespect to International Law Jurisdiction.

In his address to members of the press in Arusha yesterday, Dieng explained that the failure of international law and its jurisdiction was particularly on the African continent.

"I think what happened is very unfair and unfortunate. I think time has come for the Africans to be at the fore front! It is not enough to sign and make resolutions without implementing them," he said. He added that African countries should stand up for their rights in order to fully participate in international jurisdiction.

"This in turn," he said, "will give them power to assert their rights within the International Community that often oversteps them."

Dieng added that it is unrealistic for the international law to be used only for indicting Africans.

"Law is law but we must understand that we live in a complex world. I am not saying that we shouldn't defend the principles of justice but we should not build a perspective that international justice is towards an African. The International Criminal Court is only trying cases from Africa," he said.

The Registrar also said that ICTR's conviction of Jean Kambanda (former chief of Rwandan Government ) for Genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law sends a strong signal to all leaders in Africa and else where who could be tempted to use their power and influence to perpetrate gross violations of human rights.

In this regard, he said that vigilance must be observed in Africa given the large number of tensions prevailing in different regions of the continent.

He cited the longstanding chaos in Somalia, Darfur region, the volatile situation in Zimbabwe and the DRC.