The United Nations Detention Facility (UNDF) is a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

detention center located in

Arusha Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...

in Northern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. The other one is the United Nations Detention Unit in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The facility is maintained by the

International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, also referred to as the IRMCT or the Mechanism, is an international court established by the United Nations Security Council in 2010 to perform the remaining functions of the Internati ...

(IRMCT), a UN organization.

The Rwanda Tribunal

The UNDF served as the detention center for the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...

(ICTR) until its closure in 2015. Established in the wake of the 1994

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed H ...

, the UNDF is an 89-cell institution located within a high security prison compound five miles outside the city of Arusha. It was exclusively mandated to hold individuals indicted for, or suspected of, having committed war crimes by the

(ICTR) or the IRMCT. At its height, 51 people brought from more than 15 countries were confined there. They included the former Rwandan Army Chief of Staff Augustin Bizimungu, the pop singer

Simon Bikindi Simon Bikindi (28 September 1954 – 15 December 2018) was a Rwandan singer-songwriter who was formerly very popular in Rwanda. His patriotic songs were playlist staples on the national radio station Radio Rwanda during the war from October 1990 ...

, along with former Minister of Defense

Théoneste Bagosora Théoneste Bagosora (16 August 1941 – 25 September 2021) was a Rwandan military officer. He was chiefly known for his key role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal ...

. The welfare of the inmates is monitored by the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

(ICRC).

References

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Rwandan genocide Tanzania and the United Nations United Nations organizations based in Africa {{International-law-stub

The Rwanda Tribunal

See also

References