In the early 1990s , the United Nations Security Council established two criminal courts whose purpose was to investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for war crimes , crimes against humanity , and genocide . The first of these courts was the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ( ICTY ) , which was established in 1993 to investigate crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars . The second court , the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ( ICTR ) , was established the following year to address crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide . Both the ICTY and the ICTR were meant to be temporary institutions that would conclude after their mandate to investigate crimes and prosecute individuals was completed . Although both tribunals have completed substantially all of their mandates , there are residual functions that will not be accomplished for many more years . For example , future trials may be held once remaining ICTR fugitives are captured , convicted persons may still petition for early release , protective orders for witnesses may need to be modified , and the archives that contain confidential documents need to be safeguarded . In order to oversee the residual functions of the ICTY and ICTR in an efficient manner , the Security Council passed Resolution 1966 on 22 December 2010 , which created the Mechanism
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals