The Mechanism Completes the Transfer of ICTR Records

The records from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (“ICTR”) have now all been transferred into the custody of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (“Mechanism”). The completion of this process, which commenced in September 2013, marks a significant milestone in the Mechanism’s compliance with its obligations to ensure the preservation, accessibility, and security of the archives of both the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”).

In total, over 1,950 linear meters of physical records and over one petabyte of digital records generated by the ICTR have been fully transferred to the Mechanism Archives and Records Section (“MARS”) at the Arusha branch of the Mechanism. Linear metres describe the amount of shelf space required to store physical records, and are a standard unit used to measure the quantity of records managed by an archival institution; one petabyte is equivalent to one million gigabytes of data.

Vigorous standards were applied by MARS throughout the transfer process to ensure the records remain preserved, secure, and appropriately prepared for public access. The physical records in the custody of the Mechanism will be relocated to the purpose-built facility at the Mechanism Arusha premises at Lakilaki for their permanent storage. The digital records will be managed in the Mechanism’s digital preservation system, currently in its final stages of implementation, for long-term preservation purposes.