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js-quickedit-main-content"> <div class="row"> <section class="col-sm-9"> <a id="main-content"></a> <div class="region region-content"> <h1 class="page-header"> <span property="schema:name">About</span> </h1> <div data-history-node-id="8685" class="row bs-1col-stacked node node--type-page node--view-mode-full"> <div class="col-sm-12 bs-region bs-region--main"> <div property="schema:text" class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="embed-responsive-item" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e1ZfIdErZbw?rel=0&controls=1&showinfo=0"></iframe></div> <blockquote class="top-quote"> <p><em>By establishing the Mechanism, the Council has helped to guarantee that the closure of the two pioneering ad hoc tribunals does not open the way for impunity to reign once more.</em></p> <p>President Theodor Meron, UN Security Council, 7 June 2012</p> </blockquote> <p>The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals ("Mechanism") is mandated to perform a number of essential functions previously carried out by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (“ICTR”) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”). In carrying out these essential functions the Mechanism maintains the legacies of these two pioneering <em>ad hoc</em> international criminal courts and strives to reflect best practices in the field of international criminal justice.</p> <p class="visible-lg-block visible-md-block hidden-sm hidden-xs"><img alt="Timeline" class="img-responsive" height="auto" src="/sites/default/files/images/content/mechanism-timeline-en-hor.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto;" width="95%" /></p> <p class="visible-xs-block visible-sm-block hidden-md hidden-lg"><img alt="Timeline" class="img-responsive" height="auto" src="/sites/default/files/images/content/mechanism-timeline-en-ver.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto;" width="95%" /></p> <p>The United Nations Security Council created the Mechanism on 22 December 2010 as a “small, temporary and efficient structure”. The Mechanism started operating on 1 July 2012 in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, and on 1 July 2013 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The Arusha branch inherited functions from the ICTR, and the Hague branch from the ICTY.</p> <p>During the initial years of the Mechanism’s existence, it operated in parallel with the ICTR and the ICTY. Following the closure of the ICTR (on 31 December 2015) and the ICTY (on 31 December 2017), the Mechanism continued to operate as a stand-alone institution. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <aside class="col-sm-3" role="complementary"> <div class="region region-sidebar-second"> <section id="block-mechanismatglance" class="block block-block-content block-block-content213fa034-5b3d-4fcd-a74c-323f927cdfb8 clearfix"> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h2 class="rightside-feature-title"><a href="/sites/default/files/infographics/IRMCT_At_A_Glance_EN_May_2023.pdf">IRMCT at a glance</a></h2> <div class="rightside-feature-image"><a href="/sites/default/files/infographics/IRMCT_At_A_Glance_EN_May_2023.pdf"><img alt="Imirimo ya IRMCT" class="img-responsive" src="/sites/default/files/infographics/mechanism_at_a_glance.jpg" /></a></div> </div> </section> <section id="block-questionsandanswers" class="block 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