The United Nations court trying key suspects in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide is suffering a severe lack of funds because 140 UN members states have failed to honour their financial commitments, according to the tribunal’s spokesperson.
Of the $212-million pledged to the court, $150-million has not been forthcoming, Roland Amoussouga told the Hirondelle news agency.
Japan and the United States are among the countries that have not made good their pledges, he said.
The shortfall poses ”a real danger” to running the trials, he said.
Recruitment of new personnel has stopped and belt-tightening measures have been put in place, he added.
The problem stems from financial reforms adopted by the UN Security Council last year.
The tribunal’s president, registrar and prosecutor have been criss-crossing the world urging countries to honour their pledges.
The tribunal, which was set up after the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, where up to a million people were killed in a span of about 100 days, has convicted 16 people since the first case opened in 1997.
Investigations are due to close by the the end of this year, but the trial chambers are expected to wrap up business by 2008 while appeals will continue until 2010. — Sapa-AFP