Jean Kambanda

1. Prunier, Gérard (1995). The Rwanda Crisis, 1959–1994: History of a Genocide (Hardcover ed.). London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 232. ISBN   1-85065-243-0.
2. "Jean Kambanda – TRIAL International". Archived from the original on 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
3. Simmons, Ann M. (September 5, 1998). "Rwandan Ex-Premier Gets Life Term". Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles, California. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
4. Tyson, Paul (21 July 2015). "Rwandan genocide: Inside the prison holding Africa's most notorious war criminals". ITV News .
5. House of Lords Should Stand on "Right Side of History," says Rights Group Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine - Human Rights Watch on the implications of the Kambanda conviction to Pinochet case (from 1998).

External links

• The BBC story on Kambanda's testimony on the organization of the genocide, which forms an important source document for Linda Melvern's book Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community (2004) Verso ISBN   1-85984-588-6
• The ICTR official transcript of the sentencing phase, including Mr. Jean Kambanda's acknowledgement of his original guilty plea.
• Commentary from the Center for International Human Rights on the Kambanda case, concerned that the former prime minister and his fellow accused were 'ordinary men'. Although admitted crimes of action and inaction are cited, the commentary notes that Kambanda and Jean-Paul Akayesu (his fellow accused) were "Pillars of their communities". It concludes:

"Of what are ordinary human beings capable -- be it in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, El Salvador or elsewhere? Who is capable of genocide? And who is not?"

• Judgment and Sentence of Jean Kambanda
• The Sacrifice of Jean Kambanda is a detailed account of the Kambanda trial and the politics & jurisprudence of ICTR, written by the California Western School of Law (2004).

The thesis is that Kambanda's conviction was accelerated to bolster confidence and support of the court within Rwanda. The principal charge against the workings of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is that Kambanda's right to counsel was overridden.

Although he was able to select his own choice of lawyer from a screened list, the court's Registrar held the final say. Not only was his attorney chosen by the court that was prosecuting him, the registrar is officially required to select a counsel 'prudently' with regard to their cost, and French and Canadian lawyers were initially excluded from the list (despite these countries supplying the majority of qualified French speakers who have passed the ICTR bar).

Kambanda's decision to defend himself for four months was scarcely recorded in the court's proceedings, and when he opted for counsel, the first act of the counsellor (who is characterized as 'inept') was to sign a confession to the prosecution's case. This analysis concludes that the appeal was strategically flawed, and that the probable reason for the legal "carelessness" was that Kambanda was the face of genocide in Kigali; no more time could be wasted before he was given the court's most severe punishment, without recourse to appeal.

Ultimately, the critique is not on the grounds of justice (Kambanda was certainly guilty), but concern that the court ultimately produced a show trial, since his appeal may not have been thrown out by the U.S. courts.

• The International War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) pressroom report on the Kambanda appeal - in which, among other things, the reasoning of incompetent representation and the credibility of a mistaken confession are rejected.

Jean Kambanda
5th Prime Minister of Rwanda
In office April 9, 1994 [1]  –July 19, 1994

Preceded by Agathe Uwilingiyimana	Prime Minister of Rwanda April 9, 1994 – July 19, 1994	Succeeded by Faustin Twagiramungu