View Video | Voices from the Rwanda Tribunal

Emile Short
speaks on ...

limited victim participation in the Tribunal

Transcript

0:00

Well, reconciliation is a long-term process. It’s not a one on, it's not a, it's not a, something that happens overnight. And I must admit that the work of the ad hoc tribunals does not provide as much scope for reconciliation as other methods, maybe such as Truth Commissions or other judicial processes.

0:49

For the simple reason that the victim, victim participation in this tribunal is quite limited. That is a defect which is being remedied by the ICC, the International Criminal Court, to the extent that victim participation is, is greatly recognized. It provides greater scope for reconciliation. By and large here, victims come, witnesses come, they testify and then they go away, you know.

1:34

The structure of the tribunal, the ad hoc tribunals, does not provide the kind of forum or space for reconciliation. So I believe that if we achieve reconciliation, it will be in, in an indirect form, you know, in the sense that people who come here would feel that they have received justice and maybe when they go back, they will be willing to put the past behind them and to reconcile with those who they perceive to have been their perpetrators.