The military trial at the ICTR resumed on 18 November with a new face heading up the prosecutor's team. The return of the military trial on 18 November in Trial Chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was marked by upheaval at the prosecutor's office. It signalled the arrival of the American Barbara Mulvaney, who takes over as head of the team in this key ICTR trial; and the final exit - still unofficial - of Chile Eboe-Osuji, who is leaving the case he has worked on for the last few years.

US Recruit
After she arrived in Arusha in September, Barbara Mulvaney observed the trials but did not intervene. Since then, the new advocate general has been remarkably discreet, which makes her still virtually unknown outside of the prosecution. « She remains a total mystery to us, » commented one member of the defence team. One thing is certain: the American is no newcomer to the profession. Mulvaney boasts more then twenty years' experience as a prosecutor in the USA - in Florida, California and New Mexico. In her letter of application to the tribunal's personnel department, she claims to have dealt with over a thousand criminal trials, from rape and murder to money laundering and drug trafficking. She only abandoned this speciality in 1999, after a three-year gap in her professional life, to turn her attention to property disputes and environmental cases. Although she has no experience in international criminal justice, she is a genuine pragmatist. « 99 per cent of people had no experience of international criminal justice before arriving here, » says Mulvaney, adding that her diverse experience in several US States has helped her « get used to adapting to all sorts of legal systems ».
Her stern look behind small rectangular glasses and shock of white hair bears no small resemblance to her boss, Carla del Ponte. Like the Chief Prosecutor, she has an air of steely determination to succeed. In her office, for example, she has chosen to place a photograph of her mother meeting the boxer Mohamed Ali, in pride of place. Judging by Mulvaney's reply to the recruitment offer posted on the UN Web site, she knows how to impose her authority: « As a woman, I have always worked in the minority. I have learnt to work with men who have not always been happy to have me on their side. Once you have demonstrated your competence, it is not difficult to forge a good working relationship. » She has set the tone, now the acts await.

Well-known Secret
The prosecutor's office denies that Barbara Mulvaney was called in to replace Chile Eboe-Osuji. After running the Bagosora and co. trial most of the time over the last four years, the Canadian-Nigerian prosecutor was finally accused of poorly preparing and handling the key ICTR trial. Not long after the trial's false start in April, his position as head of the prosecution team seemed to be confirmed. In September, he was still leading the debates, during an interminable deposition by first expert witness Alison Des Forges. Yet on 18 November, Chile Eboe-Osuji was not at Barbara Mulvaney's side. This absence, for family reasons, will soon be definitive, even though this is not yet official.
« This is not a replacement, it is an addition, » argues the interim deputy chief prosecutor, Michael Johnson, on the subject of Mulvaney's arrival. « The military trial is perhaps the most important of all the genocide trials. Because of this, Carla del Ponte decided the team needed extra resources. There is no problem of cooperation with Chile Eboe-Osuji, and we are expecting him to stay until the end of the trial, » he added. Florence Hartmann, the spokesperson for the Chief Prosecutor, was not much more forthcoming: « Chile Eboe-Osuji was working as a stand-in. The post had been vacant for a long time. We needed an experienced advocate general. Barbara Mulvaney has come to supervise [the team's work]. This does not call into question Chile Eboe-Osuji's competence. We expect him to stay until the end of the trial, because he has followed the case from top to bottom. »
Yet over the last few weeks, it is a well-known fact that he will be leaving. This week, Chile Eboe-Osuji announced internally that he is to quit the prosecutor's team and take up the post of senior legal advisor to the judges in trial chamber II. Osuji was reluctant to comment on the transferpromotion. Nevertheless, the move does seem to signal the prosecution's attempt to tighten its control over this capital trial, involving the man considered the « number one » genocide suspect, Colonel Théoneste Bagosora. At the same time, this game of legal musical chairs has raised an important question concerning the court's appearance of impartiality when a member of the prosecution is being transferred to court headquarters.