My disappointment with ICTR culminated in the fall of 1998, when I was invited by a member of Congress to attend a briefing on the Rwandan genocide by a former investigator for the ICTR. The investigator explained how on February 17, 1994, a military intelligence officer sent a memorandum to the commander of the troops in Rwanda, General Romeo Dallaire, informing him of a plot to assassinate two prominent Rwandans who had been involved in the peaceful transition of power in 1994. One was Joseph Kavaruganda, then president of the Constitutional Court of Rwanda. The other was Lando Ndasingwa, leader of the Liberal Party, my brother. That meant that the UN mission knew that my brother had been targeted for assassination as early as February 1994, but did not inform him. And not only that, but when UN investigators interviewed my sister and me after his death, they didn’t tell us what they knew.

Shortly after learning of the memorandum, I filed suit against the United Nations with the help of Geoffrey Robertson, a prominent British Human Rights lawyer. It was not an easy legal process to undertake because the United Nations has sovereign immunity and can only be sued by states, not private citizens. However, we wrote to the UN Legal department in New York in the hope of seeking compensation for gross negligence because my brother and his family were murdered while they were under UN protection. Over the last year, we have been exchanging correspondence in which the UN disputes its responsibility in the incident. At this juncture, we are looking at other ways to move our case forward.

Despite all of this, however, I still feel the work of ICTR is extremely important for my country. Since its establishment, it has secured the arrest of over 40 people accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and tried several of the top leaders, including Jean Kambanda, the former Prime Minister, and Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of Taba. They were the first people ever to be sentenced by an international criminal court for genocide. In so doing, the court has established several precedents in international law, which may have implications for courts all over the world. Thus, I feel it is extremely important for Rwandans to be aware of ICTR’s legal proceedings. To assist in that effort, I have been working as a consultant to the Internews Network, a non-profit organization, which is working on a multi-media project aimed at informing Rwandans about ICTR’s proceedings. I helped translate their documentary, "Genocide on Trial," into Kinyarwanda. In the coming months, it will be shown across Rwanda by a traveling video van, from which ordinary Rwandans will be able to watch and give feedback. It is my hope that the justice the United Nations is slowly meting out may someday have an impact on my country and other troubled spots around the world.