As the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR) prepares to close on December 31, the focus has shifted to who gets to keep the records of the cases tried at the court. Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye said on Friday, during the country’s 12th National Dialogue meeting, that Rwanda should keep them.

“As the tribunal closes, our position is unchanged. Our plan is to have the archives back in Rwanda because they are ours,” he said. “We are aware that many other countries wish to have them.”

The issue of the tribunal’s archives is contentious, with Tanzania being favoured to retain them. However, Rwanda, having provided the most evidence and documents to the UN court feels it has a legitimate right to claim them.

Mr Busingye said Kigali is also looking at obtaining 13 remaining files, including those of suspects yet to be arrested. Several files and two suspects have since been transferred to Rwanda as part of the tribunal’s residual mechanism. In April last year, the East African Legislative Assembly passed a motion in favour of the archives being relocated to Rwanda.

Many Rwandans, particularly genocide survivors, feel the UN court did not meet the expectations that welcomed its establishment, by handing down what they saw as controversial acquittals and non-befitting sentences to genocide masterminds. The tribunal, which has spent almost $2 billion over the past 20 years, made only 61 convictions.

READ: Rwandan genocide court shuts after 20 years and $2b

President Paul Kagame is among those who criticised the work of the tribunal, which tried less than 100 cases despite its huge budget, compared with the traditional Gacaca courts.

Naphtali Ahishakiye, the executive secretary of Ibuka, the genocide survivor’s umbrella association, said the ICTR had only a few achievements worth celebrating.

“Our position has always been that the court let us down on many fronts. We have been on record about some of the acquittals of key genocide masterminds that happened over the years, which left survivors utterly disappointed,” Mr Ahishakiye said.

READ: Rwanda appeals the acquittal of genocide suspect

“That is not to say that there was nothing positive. The tribunal helped track down key genocide suspects at a time when Rwanda did not have enough capacity to arrest and try them,” he added.

The court also helped to confirm that what happened in Rwanda was indeed genocide.

“This was a vital step in the pursuit of justice,” Mr Ahishakiye said.

On Thursday, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), which was set up in 2010 to handle remaining the cases, reduced the sentence of former planning minister Augustin Ngirabatware from 35 to 30 years on appeal. Mr Ngirabatware, the son-in-law of wanted businessman and alleged genocide mastermind Félicien Kabuga, remains in MICT custody pending his transfer to a country where he will serve his sentence, said presiding judge Theodor Meron.

While this ruling did not annoy survivors, previous decisions made by Judge Meron were met with anger. Last year in February, the decision by the ICTR appeals chamber, presided over by Meron, to acquit former ministers Justin Mugenzi and Prosper Mugiraneza sparked outrage.