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Italy agrees to enforce prison sentences set by UN tribunal in Rwanda

Italy agrees to enforce prison sentences set by UN tribunal in Rwanda

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Italy has became the fifth country to sign an agreement with the United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda to enforce its sentences by imprisoning people convicted by the court.

Yesterday in Rome, Officials from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the Italian Government signed the deal, which the ICTR described in a statement as "a very important step" in allowing it to fulfil its mandate.

Italy joins Mali, Benin, Swaziland and France as countries jailing those serving sentences imposed by the ICTR.

Located in Arusha, Tanzania, the Tribunal is prosecuting persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda during 1994. Of the 70 suspects indicted so far, more than 60 are in the Tribunal's custody. Thirteen trials have been completed, resulting in 12 convictions and one acquittal.