Revised Essay on SSRN

I have posted a substantially revised and expanded version of my essay “What Happens to the Acquitted?” on SSRN. Here again is the abstract of the essay, which is forthcoming in the Leiden Journal of International Law:

According to the ICTR, Emmanuel Bagambiki is an innocent man. The Trial Chamber and the Appeals chamber have each unanimously acquitted the former Prefect of Cyangugu of crimes relating to Rwanda’s horrific 1994 genocide. And on July 19, Bagambiki was reunited with his wife in children in Belgium, having been granted asylum just days earlier.

It is tempting to conclude that justice has been done in Bagambiki’s case. That conclusion, however, would be too facile: Bagambiki was acquitted in February, 2006, nearly 18 months before his family reunion. In the interim he lived in a safe-house in Arusha paid for by the United Nations, wanted by Rwanda for trial on related charges and unable to convince Belgium that he posed no danger to its peace and security. Bagambiki, moreover, is one of the lucky ones: the nightmare of being free but having nowhere to go continues for two of his acquitted roommates in the safe-house, Andre Ntagerura and Andre Rwamakuba, Rwanda’s minister of transportation and former minister of education respectively.

Bagambiki’s ordeal and Rwamakuba and Ntagerura’s ongoing plight illustrate one of the basic problems facing international criminal tribunals: what to do with the acquitted. An acquitted defendant normally has two options: return to his country of origin, or find a third country that will grant him asylum. Both options, however, have been problematic for defendants acquitted by the ICTR and are likely to prove equally problematic for defendants who may be acquitted in the future by the ICC. This short essay explains why — and identifies what the international community should do about it.

As always, comments are both welcome and encouraged.