PERCY METSING MANGOAELA (Lesotho) said, that while the tremendous increase in the judicial activities of the Rwanda Tribunal was commendable, the need for speedy trials of the people already indicted could not be overemphasized. He hoped that the creation of a third Trial Chamber and the election of additional judges would facilitate the expeditious prosecution and conclusion of trials. Joint trials would enable optimal use of the court's judicial resources. More importantly, joinder would avoid witnesses having to testify repeatedly about the same facts in different cases, thus, minimizing their trauma. He stressed that the Prosecutor should only resort to joinder when there was clear evidence of conspiracy and participation with others in committing crimes, and that the rights of each accused must be respected at all times. The latter's rights to equality before the Tribunal should be scrupulously observed by affording each of them the freedom to retain counsel of their choice, and if unable to do so, to b

e assigned counsel by the Court.

He said the conviction of the former Prime Minister of Rwanda and other high-ranking officials was conclusive proof that genocide had been committed. The importance of those convictions lay not only in their historic significance as the first-ever pronouncements by an international court on the crime of genocide, or their determination that sexual assault constituted part of that crime, but also in their contribution to the jurisprudence of international humanitarian law and international criminal justice. It would no longer be possible for those who committed such crimes to escape punishment. "As we await the outcome of the deliberations in the other two cases, it is our hope that these convictions will spur the international community to cooperate with the Tribunal in tracking Rwandese genocide suspects wherever they might be", he said.

He said that the Tribunal would require increased cooperation from States for the incarceration of convicted persons. Mali and Benin had been the first to rise to that challenge; he hoped other countries would soon follow suit. He also stressed the importance of the Rwanda Tribunal to Africa. Strong moral, political and financial support for the court would not only ensure that future dictatorial regimes would be effectively prosecuted for their actions, but that there would never be a repeat of genocide on the continent. The success of the Tribunal also augured well for the future International Criminal Court.