MISNA
19 July 2007
Persistent insecurity in the eastern North Kivu province has led to the displacement of an estimated 650,000 civilians, based on estimates of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, indicating that it is the largest number to be displaced due to the conflict in the region in the past three years. According to Jens Hesemann, spokesman for UNHCR, since the start of 2007 there have been around 163,000 new internally displaced persons (IDP), representing the worst situation since 2004. The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC – present with over 20,000 peacekeepers and civil personnel) in the past days denounced daily violence against civilians in different areas of North Kivu by the rebels of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda – accused of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide) and soldiers of the combined brigades (national army and former rebels) present in east ex-Zaire. The largest number of IDP’s were registered in 2006, fleeing from attacks of the militias loyal to Laurent Nkunda, a dissident general tied to the Rwandan government and accused of war crimes in this zone of DR-Congo. Despite the end of the conflict (1998-2003) and the small political progress in Kinshasa – with relatively peaceful legislative and presidential elections – in eastern DR-Congo civilians continue being targeted by systematic violence by armed groups that the military and UN mission have failed to eradicate, mainly engaged in illegal trafficking of mineral resources into neighbouring countries.
19 July, 2007
AU Extends Mission But Troops Are Too Few
MISNA
19 July 2007
The African Union (AU) Council for Peace and Security (CPS) has established a six-month extension for the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Somalia (Amisom) said the AU spokesman Assane Ba in Addis Abeba. The decision was taken just hours from the expiry of the current Amisom mandate, which was supposed to have been replaced by a UN force that has not even been defined yet. In January, the CPS had approved the deployment of an 8,000 soldier strong contingent; however, so far only Uganda has sent 1,500 soldiers, all deployed in Mogadishu. At the end of today’s meeting, the Au body had asked the international community “to support the AU’s efforts in Somalia and those of the transitional institution (Tfg)” to restore peace and order in the country after 16 years of anarchy and civil war.
19 July 2007
The African Union (AU) Council for Peace and Security (CPS) has established a six-month extension for the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Somalia (Amisom) said the AU spokesman Assane Ba in Addis Abeba. The decision was taken just hours from the expiry of the current Amisom mandate, which was supposed to have been replaced by a UN force that has not even been defined yet. In January, the CPS had approved the deployment of an 8,000 soldier strong contingent; however, so far only Uganda has sent 1,500 soldiers, all deployed in Mogadishu. At the end of today’s meeting, the Au body had asked the international community “to support the AU’s efforts in Somalia and those of the transitional institution (Tfg)” to restore peace and order in the country after 16 years of anarchy and civil war.
Attacks in North and South
MISNA
19 July 07
Two attacks in Hub, Baluchistan and Hangu, in the northwestern frontier have left 45 people dead and dozens of wounded. In the first attack, possibly using a roadside bomb (some say it was a suicide bomber), targeting a minibus aboard which were Chinese mining engineers and technicians, 25 people were killed, all of them locals, including 12 police escort officers and 13 bystanders. The other attack involved a suicide car bomber driving a car laden with explosives against a police academy in Hangu, 80 km. southwest of Peshawar. The attacker activated the bomb when he was stopped at the entrance of the academy. The latest toll suggested by the Al-Jazeera network, is of at least 20 people, 13 of them civilians. In the past6 weeks, there have been frequent attacks, including North Waziristan, where pro-Taliban militias have broken a ceasefire signed ten months ago. The renewed wave of violence has coincided with the Pakistani police siege of the Lal-e masjid (red Mosque) in Islamabad, which started last July 3 and ended tragically last Thursday with close to 100 people killed.
19 July 07
Two attacks in Hub, Baluchistan and Hangu, in the northwestern frontier have left 45 people dead and dozens of wounded. In the first attack, possibly using a roadside bomb (some say it was a suicide bomber), targeting a minibus aboard which were Chinese mining engineers and technicians, 25 people were killed, all of them locals, including 12 police escort officers and 13 bystanders. The other attack involved a suicide car bomber driving a car laden with explosives against a police academy in Hangu, 80 km. southwest of Peshawar. The attacker activated the bomb when he was stopped at the entrance of the academy. The latest toll suggested by the Al-Jazeera network, is of at least 20 people, 13 of them civilians. In the past6 weeks, there have been frequent attacks, including North Waziristan, where pro-Taliban militias have broken a ceasefire signed ten months ago. The renewed wave of violence has coincided with the Pakistani police siege of the Lal-e masjid (red Mosque) in Islamabad, which started last July 3 and ended tragically last Thursday with close to 100 people killed.
The ICTR Has "Turned Away From its Mandate" Says the Detainees
Hirondelle News Agency
19 July 07
Several detainees have accused the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) of being diverted of its mandate while abstaining from prosecuting the former rebels that are in power in Kigali.
These allegations are contained in a letter addressed to the Heads of state or government of the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council by 43 of the 55 persons detained in Arusha, which the Hirondelle news agency received a copy on Wednesday.
“While condemning unreservedly the large scale massacres that plunged Rwanda into mourning, they are keen on denouncing the misrepresentation of the truth on the true causes of that tragedy and the impunity granted by the ICTR to the real planners and triggers of that catastrophe who are none other than the RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front) leaders currently in power in Kigali”.
The detainees reiterate a position expressed on several previous occasions in correspondences to other authorities which are that the attack against the plane of President Habyarimana on 6 April 1994 sparked the genocide and accuse the RPF to be the authors of that attack. The leaders of the RPF have always denied this accusation.
The detainees state that the Prosecutor received a mandate which spells out clearly that both parties in the conflict will be concerned by prosecution but that he has not assumed his obligations. According to them, the tribunal "has turned away from the mandate assigned to it by the UN Security Council".
“On the eve of closing the Tribunal, one is forced to the conclusion that, contrary to what is happening at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), only Rwandan Hutus, for the mere reason that they are defeated Hutus who occupied positions of responsibility or other more or less important social positions, have been prosecuted before this tribunal”, the detainees write.
"However, numerous persons devoted to the cause of justice and fairness, have denounced the discriminatory prosecution and partiality prevailing at the ICTR to the detriment of the reconciliation of the Rwandan people", they add.
“We humbly raise our voices to alert your Excellency so that you may bring the UN Security Council to see to it that the mandate of the ICTR is scrupulously adhered to and that the Tribunal fulfils its mission of administering justice according to its Statute, of fighting against impunity and of contributing to national reconciliation", they ask the five Heads of state and government.
The Prosecutor of the ICTR declared that he is continuing the evaluation of the elements collected during his investigations into the crimes allegedly committed by the RPF and that at the proper time he will announce his conclusions.
The five countries which have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council are the United States, Russia, France, China and the United Kingdom.
19 July 07
Several detainees have accused the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) of being diverted of its mandate while abstaining from prosecuting the former rebels that are in power in Kigali.
These allegations are contained in a letter addressed to the Heads of state or government of the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council by 43 of the 55 persons detained in Arusha, which the Hirondelle news agency received a copy on Wednesday.
“While condemning unreservedly the large scale massacres that plunged Rwanda into mourning, they are keen on denouncing the misrepresentation of the truth on the true causes of that tragedy and the impunity granted by the ICTR to the real planners and triggers of that catastrophe who are none other than the RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front) leaders currently in power in Kigali”.
The detainees reiterate a position expressed on several previous occasions in correspondences to other authorities which are that the attack against the plane of President Habyarimana on 6 April 1994 sparked the genocide and accuse the RPF to be the authors of that attack. The leaders of the RPF have always denied this accusation.
The detainees state that the Prosecutor received a mandate which spells out clearly that both parties in the conflict will be concerned by prosecution but that he has not assumed his obligations. According to them, the tribunal "has turned away from the mandate assigned to it by the UN Security Council".
“On the eve of closing the Tribunal, one is forced to the conclusion that, contrary to what is happening at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), only Rwandan Hutus, for the mere reason that they are defeated Hutus who occupied positions of responsibility or other more or less important social positions, have been prosecuted before this tribunal”, the detainees write.
"However, numerous persons devoted to the cause of justice and fairness, have denounced the discriminatory prosecution and partiality prevailing at the ICTR to the detriment of the reconciliation of the Rwandan people", they add.
“We humbly raise our voices to alert your Excellency so that you may bring the UN Security Council to see to it that the mandate of the ICTR is scrupulously adhered to and that the Tribunal fulfils its mission of administering justice according to its Statute, of fighting against impunity and of contributing to national reconciliation", they ask the five Heads of state and government.
The Prosecutor of the ICTR declared that he is continuing the evaluation of the elements collected during his investigations into the crimes allegedly committed by the RPF and that at the proper time he will announce his conclusions.
The five countries which have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council are the United States, Russia, France, China and the United Kingdom.
A Witness Accused of Testifying In Exchange for an Award
Hirondelle News Agency
19 July 07
A lawyer suggested that a witness testified against his client in the hope of obtaining favours from Kigali on Tuesday in the trial of the leaders of the former ruling party currently in progress before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Chantal Hounkpatin (France), who represents the former president of the former Rwandan presidential party, Matthieu Ngirumpatse, alleged that the protected witness "FH", detained in his country for the past ten years in connection with the 1994 genocide, made the journey to Arusha in exchange of a promise of reward from the authorities.
"The exchange for the testimony would be the dropping of the charges", implied Hounkpatin.
The witness, a former local administrator in the Gitarama prefecture (central Rwanda), had already testified for the ICTR prosecution in two other cases.
"I beg you, not to try me on intent. I started to testify before I was in detention. I did not come to testify because I am in detention. What I want is the truth. I do not expect anything in exchange of my testimony", answered the witness.
Ngirumpatse is accused with the former vice-president of the Mouvement RépublicainNational pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND), Edouard Karemera, and the former secretary-general of the party, Joseph Nzirorera.
The lawyer of Karemera, Felix Sow (Senegal), concentrated on one of the witness’ previous testimonies before the ICTR and raised several contradicting elements with his current testimony.
The witness was confronted with an interview which he had granted to Radio Rwanda in 1994 in which he supported the interim government whereas before the Tribunal he accused it of being responsible for the genocide of Tutsis, in particular in Gitarama.
FH replied that "taking into account the difficult moments that I lived, I said all that came into my mind".
"According to your interests, you can tell the truth as you can not tell it? ", the lawyer threw at the witness. The former local administrator indicated that he had defended the government to save his life.
Back on the offensive, Sow suggested to the witness that "even today, you do not tell the truth especially that we know that you are not free? ".
"Times are different. In every way the genocide is over. Moreover, I gave this testimony when I was free. It is my small way of contributing to the truth. You cannot compare two different moments ", he said.
The defence of Nzirorera will cross-examine this witness on Wednesday.
This trial, Karemera et al., started in September 2005. The prosecutor is at his 18th witness of the sixty he is expected to call. The proceedings should continue beyond 31 December 2008, the date that the ICTR is scheduled to the end its mandate.
19 July 07
A lawyer suggested that a witness testified against his client in the hope of obtaining favours from Kigali on Tuesday in the trial of the leaders of the former ruling party currently in progress before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Chantal Hounkpatin (France), who represents the former president of the former Rwandan presidential party, Matthieu Ngirumpatse, alleged that the protected witness "FH", detained in his country for the past ten years in connection with the 1994 genocide, made the journey to Arusha in exchange of a promise of reward from the authorities.
"The exchange for the testimony would be the dropping of the charges", implied Hounkpatin.
The witness, a former local administrator in the Gitarama prefecture (central Rwanda), had already testified for the ICTR prosecution in two other cases.
"I beg you, not to try me on intent. I started to testify before I was in detention. I did not come to testify because I am in detention. What I want is the truth. I do not expect anything in exchange of my testimony", answered the witness.
Ngirumpatse is accused with the former vice-president of the Mouvement RépublicainNational pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND), Edouard Karemera, and the former secretary-general of the party, Joseph Nzirorera.
The lawyer of Karemera, Felix Sow (Senegal), concentrated on one of the witness’ previous testimonies before the ICTR and raised several contradicting elements with his current testimony.
The witness was confronted with an interview which he had granted to Radio Rwanda in 1994 in which he supported the interim government whereas before the Tribunal he accused it of being responsible for the genocide of Tutsis, in particular in Gitarama.
FH replied that "taking into account the difficult moments that I lived, I said all that came into my mind".
"According to your interests, you can tell the truth as you can not tell it? ", the lawyer threw at the witness. The former local administrator indicated that he had defended the government to save his life.
Back on the offensive, Sow suggested to the witness that "even today, you do not tell the truth especially that we know that you are not free? ".
"Times are different. In every way the genocide is over. Moreover, I gave this testimony when I was free. It is my small way of contributing to the truth. You cannot compare two different moments ", he said.
The defence of Nzirorera will cross-examine this witness on Wednesday.
This trial, Karemera et al., started in September 2005. The prosecutor is at his 18th witness of the sixty he is expected to call. The proceedings should continue beyond 31 December 2008, the date that the ICTR is scheduled to the end its mandate.
17 July, 2007
Northern Rebels Release Kidnapped Chinese Executive
MISNA
16 july 2007
The rebels of the Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ) released the Chinese national kidnapped on July 6 in northern Niger, handing him over to a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), along with three soldiers of Niamey’s armed forces they were holding hostage with dozens of other officers. “Faithful to its principles, the MNJ released the Chinese executive and three soldiers whose wounds need treatment”, read a statement published on the ‘blog’ of the movement. “This humanitarian gesture adds to a previous release, which allowed 30 military prisoners to return to their families”, continued the Tuareg rebels, accusing the central government of “indifference over the fate of the soldiers” captured three weeks ago in an attack on the military base of Tezirzayt, not far from Agadez. An attack in which the rebels claim to have seized a quantity of Chinese-made weapons used by government forces. The released hostage is Zhang Guohua, an executive of the ‘Société des mines d'Agelik’, a branch of the China Nuclear Engineering and Construction group corporation, specialised in the mining of uranium, of which Niger is among the main world exporters. The Chinese executive was kidnapped in “reprisal” against “China’s interference in Niger affairs”. The MNJ accuses the Chinese company, along with three other foreign firms present in the north, of not sharing with the local populations the proceeds deriving from the exploitation of Niger’s resources and causing extensive environmental damages.
16 july 2007
The rebels of the Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ) released the Chinese national kidnapped on July 6 in northern Niger, handing him over to a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), along with three soldiers of Niamey’s armed forces they were holding hostage with dozens of other officers. “Faithful to its principles, the MNJ released the Chinese executive and three soldiers whose wounds need treatment”, read a statement published on the ‘blog’ of the movement. “This humanitarian gesture adds to a previous release, which allowed 30 military prisoners to return to their families”, continued the Tuareg rebels, accusing the central government of “indifference over the fate of the soldiers” captured three weeks ago in an attack on the military base of Tezirzayt, not far from Agadez. An attack in which the rebels claim to have seized a quantity of Chinese-made weapons used by government forces. The released hostage is Zhang Guohua, an executive of the ‘Société des mines d'Agelik’, a branch of the China Nuclear Engineering and Construction group corporation, specialised in the mining of uranium, of which Niger is among the main world exporters. The Chinese executive was kidnapped in “reprisal” against “China’s interference in Niger affairs”. The MNJ accuses the Chinese company, along with three other foreign firms present in the north, of not sharing with the local populations the proceeds deriving from the exploitation of Niger’s resources and causing extensive environmental damages.
Two Civilians Confess to Killing Journalist
MISNA
17 July 07
Two civilians, identified as Freddy Bisimwa and Masasile Rwezangabo, yesterday in court confessed they had been hired to kill the journalist for the United Nations-backed Radio Okapi, Serge Maheshe, shot dead on June 13 on a street of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu, east Democratic Republic of Congo.
The two confessed killers, who appeared before the military court in Bukavu along with another 12 people, also implicated the two eye witnesses and ‘friends’ of Maheshe, Serge Mohima and Alain Shamavu, under arrest since June 30, for allegedly planning the crime. According to Bisimwa and Rwezangabo, known by police for petty crime, the two witnesses had promised $30,000 and a plane ticket for South Africa for the murder of the journalist. The lawyers representing Mohima and Shamavu rejected the charge, insisting the two were the victims of a cover-up of the true nature of the killing; their request to transfer the trial to a civil court was dismissed. Two soldiers arrested just hours after the crime had been immediately presented as the killers of the journalist and a trial had been hastily opened, drawing strong criticism from human rights groups. One of the two confessed killers yesterday called for the liberation of the soldiers. The motive of the murder remains unknown.
17 July 07
Two civilians, identified as Freddy Bisimwa and Masasile Rwezangabo, yesterday in court confessed they had been hired to kill the journalist for the United Nations-backed Radio Okapi, Serge Maheshe, shot dead on June 13 on a street of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu, east Democratic Republic of Congo.
The two confessed killers, who appeared before the military court in Bukavu along with another 12 people, also implicated the two eye witnesses and ‘friends’ of Maheshe, Serge Mohima and Alain Shamavu, under arrest since June 30, for allegedly planning the crime. According to Bisimwa and Rwezangabo, known by police for petty crime, the two witnesses had promised $30,000 and a plane ticket for South Africa for the murder of the journalist. The lawyers representing Mohima and Shamavu rejected the charge, insisting the two were the victims of a cover-up of the true nature of the killing; their request to transfer the trial to a civil court was dismissed. Two soldiers arrested just hours after the crime had been immediately presented as the killers of the journalist and a trial had been hastily opened, drawing strong criticism from human rights groups. One of the two confessed killers yesterday called for the liberation of the soldiers. The motive of the murder remains unknown.
Gold Discovered in Various Districts
MISNA
17 July 07
A “sizeable amount” of gold deposits were discovered in the central Ugandan region, as announced by the Sate minister for mineral development, Kamanda Bataringaya, indicating that the discovery follows a major mineral exploration that will cover 80 percent of the country’s land area. The gold deposits were individuated in the districts of Kisoro, Ntungamo, Kasese, Masindi, Karamoja, Tororo and Busia. Other minerals discovered include copper, uranium and other industrial minerals raging from construction sand to marble rocks. The Minister, though not giving an estimate on the value of the mineral, reassured the public that the ongoing surveys were not intended to grab lands from individuals, but to facilitate geological mapping. In Uganda there was so far mainly the presence of copper and cobalt deposits. The most profitable sector remains farming, in which 80% of the work force is engaged, with coffee being the main product.
17 July 07
A “sizeable amount” of gold deposits were discovered in the central Ugandan region, as announced by the Sate minister for mineral development, Kamanda Bataringaya, indicating that the discovery follows a major mineral exploration that will cover 80 percent of the country’s land area. The gold deposits were individuated in the districts of Kisoro, Ntungamo, Kasese, Masindi, Karamoja, Tororo and Busia. Other minerals discovered include copper, uranium and other industrial minerals raging from construction sand to marble rocks. The Minister, though not giving an estimate on the value of the mineral, reassured the public that the ongoing surveys were not intended to grab lands from individuals, but to facilitate geological mapping. In Uganda there was so far mainly the presence of copper and cobalt deposits. The most profitable sector remains farming, in which 80% of the work force is engaged, with coffee being the main product.
UN Peacekeeping Mission Extended
MISNA
17 July 07
The United Nations Security Council extended until mid-January 2008 the mandate of the United Nations Operation in the Ivory Coast (UNOCI) and French ‘Licorne’ forces to support the holding of “free and fair elections” in the West African country. In a unanimously adopted resolution, as reported by the IRIN UN information network, the Council also terminated the mandate of the UN envoy for the elections in Cote d’Ivoire, Gerard Stoudmann – as requested two months ago by Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo - and tasked Ban Ki-Moon’s Special Representative in the country, Abou Moussa, with monitoring the electoral process. In regard, ONUCI spokesman Hamadoun Touré said Moussa will set up a special technical unit for certifying the stages of the elections process. Under the resolution, “the UNOCI will continue to facilitate the full implementation of the Ouagadougou agreement” signed on March 4 in the Burkina Faso capital between President Gbagbo and the leader of the former rebels and current Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, to facilitate a return to peace and definitively mark an end to the crisis underway since a 19 September 2002 coup attempt against the President.
17 July 07
The United Nations Security Council extended until mid-January 2008 the mandate of the United Nations Operation in the Ivory Coast (UNOCI) and French ‘Licorne’ forces to support the holding of “free and fair elections” in the West African country. In a unanimously adopted resolution, as reported by the IRIN UN information network, the Council also terminated the mandate of the UN envoy for the elections in Cote d’Ivoire, Gerard Stoudmann – as requested two months ago by Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo - and tasked Ban Ki-Moon’s Special Representative in the country, Abou Moussa, with monitoring the electoral process. In regard, ONUCI spokesman Hamadoun Touré said Moussa will set up a special technical unit for certifying the stages of the elections process. Under the resolution, “the UNOCI will continue to facilitate the full implementation of the Ouagadougou agreement” signed on March 4 in the Burkina Faso capital between President Gbagbo and the leader of the former rebels and current Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, to facilitate a return to peace and definitively mark an end to the crisis underway since a 19 September 2002 coup attempt against the President.
Tuareg Revolt: Burkina Faso Offers Mediation in Crisis
MISNA
17 July 07
Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Djibril Bassolé, since yesterday on a visit in Niamey, met with Niger President Mamadou Tandja to offer his nation’s help in restoring peace in northern Niger, theatre for six-months to activities of predominantly Tuareg rebels of the MNJ (Movement of Niger People for Justice). According to RFI (Radio France International), there has been no formal response from the Niger government, which does not admit the existence of an anti-government movement in the north, defining the MNJ rebels as “bandits”.
Despite recent calls by various politicians, even close to the government, to open dialogue with the rebels, Niamey has so far rejected the idea. For months the movement has denounced – also through violent armed activities – that the people of the northern territories of Aïr, Azawak, Manga and Tillabery face immense difficulties and suffer injustices on an economic, social and political level, being excluded from proceeds deriving from the exploitation of natural resources, mainly uranium, which it claims go to the government and foreign companies. Ouagadougou already hosted talks between Niamey and previous Tuareg rebels, which concluded with the 1994 and 1995 accords.
17 July 07
Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Djibril Bassolé, since yesterday on a visit in Niamey, met with Niger President Mamadou Tandja to offer his nation’s help in restoring peace in northern Niger, theatre for six-months to activities of predominantly Tuareg rebels of the MNJ (Movement of Niger People for Justice). According to RFI (Radio France International), there has been no formal response from the Niger government, which does not admit the existence of an anti-government movement in the north, defining the MNJ rebels as “bandits”.
Despite recent calls by various politicians, even close to the government, to open dialogue with the rebels, Niamey has so far rejected the idea. For months the movement has denounced – also through violent armed activities – that the people of the northern territories of Aïr, Azawak, Manga and Tillabery face immense difficulties and suffer injustices on an economic, social and political level, being excluded from proceeds deriving from the exploitation of natural resources, mainly uranium, which it claims go to the government and foreign companies. Ouagadougou already hosted talks between Niamey and previous Tuareg rebels, which concluded with the 1994 and 1995 accords.
15 July, 2007
Rugambarara Pleads Guilty.
Hirondelle News Agency
13 July 07
Juvénal Rugambarara, the former mayor of Bicumbi (eastern Rwanda) admitted Friday his responsibility during the genocide, becoming the eighth defendant to plead guilty since the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in November 1994.
Rugambarara, 48, pleaded guilty to the single count of extermination of Tutsis in three sectors of his commune: Mwulire, Mabare and Nawe.
The defendant admitted that in his capacity as mayor, he knew that subordinates on whom he exerted an effective control organized and perpetrated attacks against Tutsi refugees. He acknowledged not to have taken any steps to open investigations in order to apprehend and transfer the persons responsible for these crimes to the competent authorities for appropriate punishment.
Rugambarara recognized that as a mayor he had the legal obligation to act and that his penal responsibility is engaged due to his inaction.
The guilty plea was accepted by the chamber which considered it to be sincere and unambiguous. A preliminary sentencing hearing was scheduled for September.
Rugambarara, who expressed remorse and asked for forgiveness from the victims, will plead mitigating circumstances. To demonstrate this fact he will call character witnesses.
The defendant and the Prosecutor proposed a sentence from nine to twelve years in prison. The determination of the sentence is however a prerogative of the judges.
The defendants who have pleaded guilty before Rugambara are the former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda, the journalist George Ruggiu, the former radio operator Joseph Serugendo, the former Councilor Vincent Rutaganira, the former chief militiaman Omar Serushago, the former youth leader Joseph Nzabirinda and the former Mayor Paul Bisengimana.
Several other cases were, also, scheduled this week, some were heard in closed sessions. The closed session concerned mainly the defendants whose trials have not yet begun. They were the status conferences of these cases.
Status conferences were, thus, held in the cases of Callixte Kalimanzira, former directeur de cabinet in the Ministry of the Interior, Ephrem Setako, a colonel in the former Rwandan army, and Gaspard Kanyarukiga, a former businessman in Kigali and Kibuye (western Rwanda).
Proceedings also continued in two group trials: Butare and Karemera.
The Butare trial, an area in southern Rwanda, was adjourned until 20 August. The chamber had just heard the opening statement of the fifth of the six co-defendants, the former mayor of Ngoma Joseph Kanyabashi; in this, according to lawyers, "unending" trial.
Kanyabashi denied any responsibility in the genocide of Tutsis and exposed his powerlessness against "the genocidary forces" which had invaded his commune.
The Butare trial has been ongoing since June 2001.
Another defendant who began his defense this week, in an individual trial, is Father Emmanuel Rukundo. He was a military chaplain. He is accused of massacring Tutsis in central Rwanda. He has pleaded not guilty.
In the Karemera case, on the other hand, it is the Prosecutor who is calling his witnesses. Edouard Karemera was a vice-president of the ruling party in Rwanda in 1994. He is accused with two other heads of his party, Matthieu Ngirumpatse, the president, and Joseph Nzirorera, the secretary-general. The proceedings started in September 2005.
Hirondelle News Agency
13 July 07
The former mayor of Bicumbi (eastern Rwanda), Juvénal Rugambarara, pleaded guilty to extermination of Tutsis in his commune in 1994 on Friday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Wearing a dark suit, with a posed voice, expressing in his mother tongue of Kinyarwanda, Rugarambara, 48, admitted all the facts which are charged against him.
"I have understood the indictment such as it was read to me and I plead guilty", he said. "I am really saddened by what happened", he continued.
Rugambarara recognized the extermination of Tutsis committed in three sectors of his commune in 1994 by his subordinates without taking measures to carry out investigations in order to bring the suspects before the courts.
Among his subordinates included the conseillers de secteurs , communal police officers, local civil servants and militiamen.
"I have waited impatiently for this day to relieve my conscience tarnished by the extermination which took place in my commune at the time of the genocide", he stated.
Rugambarara was mayor of Bicumbi from 16 September 1993 to 20 April 1994. He regretted that when he was in office "my Tutsi compatriots were victims of a humiliating extermination".
He expressed his contrition and after having inclined himself before the memory of the victims, he asked for a "humble pardon" notably from the widows and the orphans of his commune.
"I lost my humanity during those days marked by the horror of genocide and crimes against humanity", Rugambarara underlined.
He hoped that this plea will enable him "to recover a part of his manly dignity".
Rugambarara also launched a call to the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. "I ask you from the bottom of my heart to intensify the fight for the reconciliation of all the Rwandan people so that all, Hutus, Tutsis and Twas, can live together like the retina and the pupil of eye".
The chamber presided by Sri Lankan Judge Joseph Asoka de Silva accepted Rugambarara’s guilty plea.
A preliminary sentence hearing, during which the defence will notably plead mitigating circumstances, was scheduled for 17 September.
The defendant and the prosecutor proposed a sentence ranging from nine to twelve years, but the decision is the prerogative of the chamber.
Rugambarara was arrested in Uganda on 11 August 2003 and was transferred to Arusha two days later. He faced nine counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes which included acts of torture and rape for which he had pleaded not guilty on 15 August 2003.
Rugarambara stated to have decided to plead guilty "of my own will and because my conscience dictated it to me".
13 July 07
Juvénal Rugambarara, the former mayor of Bicumbi (eastern Rwanda) admitted Friday his responsibility during the genocide, becoming the eighth defendant to plead guilty since the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in November 1994.
Rugambarara, 48, pleaded guilty to the single count of extermination of Tutsis in three sectors of his commune: Mwulire, Mabare and Nawe.
The defendant admitted that in his capacity as mayor, he knew that subordinates on whom he exerted an effective control organized and perpetrated attacks against Tutsi refugees. He acknowledged not to have taken any steps to open investigations in order to apprehend and transfer the persons responsible for these crimes to the competent authorities for appropriate punishment.
Rugambarara recognized that as a mayor he had the legal obligation to act and that his penal responsibility is engaged due to his inaction.
The guilty plea was accepted by the chamber which considered it to be sincere and unambiguous. A preliminary sentencing hearing was scheduled for September.
Rugambarara, who expressed remorse and asked for forgiveness from the victims, will plead mitigating circumstances. To demonstrate this fact he will call character witnesses.
The defendant and the Prosecutor proposed a sentence from nine to twelve years in prison. The determination of the sentence is however a prerogative of the judges.
The defendants who have pleaded guilty before Rugambara are the former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda, the journalist George Ruggiu, the former radio operator Joseph Serugendo, the former Councilor Vincent Rutaganira, the former chief militiaman Omar Serushago, the former youth leader Joseph Nzabirinda and the former Mayor Paul Bisengimana.
Several other cases were, also, scheduled this week, some were heard in closed sessions. The closed session concerned mainly the defendants whose trials have not yet begun. They were the status conferences of these cases.
Status conferences were, thus, held in the cases of Callixte Kalimanzira, former directeur de cabinet in the Ministry of the Interior, Ephrem Setako, a colonel in the former Rwandan army, and Gaspard Kanyarukiga, a former businessman in Kigali and Kibuye (western Rwanda).
Proceedings also continued in two group trials: Butare and Karemera.
The Butare trial, an area in southern Rwanda, was adjourned until 20 August. The chamber had just heard the opening statement of the fifth of the six co-defendants, the former mayor of Ngoma Joseph Kanyabashi; in this, according to lawyers, "unending" trial.
Kanyabashi denied any responsibility in the genocide of Tutsis and exposed his powerlessness against "the genocidary forces" which had invaded his commune.
The Butare trial has been ongoing since June 2001.
Another defendant who began his defense this week, in an individual trial, is Father Emmanuel Rukundo. He was a military chaplain. He is accused of massacring Tutsis in central Rwanda. He has pleaded not guilty.
In the Karemera case, on the other hand, it is the Prosecutor who is calling his witnesses. Edouard Karemera was a vice-president of the ruling party in Rwanda in 1994. He is accused with two other heads of his party, Matthieu Ngirumpatse, the president, and Joseph Nzirorera, the secretary-general. The proceedings started in September 2005.
Hirondelle News Agency
13 July 07
The former mayor of Bicumbi (eastern Rwanda), Juvénal Rugambarara, pleaded guilty to extermination of Tutsis in his commune in 1994 on Friday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Wearing a dark suit, with a posed voice, expressing in his mother tongue of Kinyarwanda, Rugarambara, 48, admitted all the facts which are charged against him.
"I have understood the indictment such as it was read to me and I plead guilty", he said. "I am really saddened by what happened", he continued.
Rugambarara recognized the extermination of Tutsis committed in three sectors of his commune in 1994 by his subordinates without taking measures to carry out investigations in order to bring the suspects before the courts.
Among his subordinates included the conseillers de secteurs , communal police officers, local civil servants and militiamen.
"I have waited impatiently for this day to relieve my conscience tarnished by the extermination which took place in my commune at the time of the genocide", he stated.
Rugambarara was mayor of Bicumbi from 16 September 1993 to 20 April 1994. He regretted that when he was in office "my Tutsi compatriots were victims of a humiliating extermination".
He expressed his contrition and after having inclined himself before the memory of the victims, he asked for a "humble pardon" notably from the widows and the orphans of his commune.
"I lost my humanity during those days marked by the horror of genocide and crimes against humanity", Rugambarara underlined.
He hoped that this plea will enable him "to recover a part of his manly dignity".
Rugambarara also launched a call to the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. "I ask you from the bottom of my heart to intensify the fight for the reconciliation of all the Rwandan people so that all, Hutus, Tutsis and Twas, can live together like the retina and the pupil of eye".
The chamber presided by Sri Lankan Judge Joseph Asoka de Silva accepted Rugambarara’s guilty plea.
A preliminary sentence hearing, during which the defence will notably plead mitigating circumstances, was scheduled for 17 September.
The defendant and the prosecutor proposed a sentence ranging from nine to twelve years, but the decision is the prerogative of the chamber.
Rugambarara was arrested in Uganda on 11 August 2003 and was transferred to Arusha two days later. He faced nine counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes which included acts of torture and rape for which he had pleaded not guilty on 15 August 2003.
Rugarambara stated to have decided to plead guilty "of my own will and because my conscience dictated it to me".
Survivors' Census was a Failure According to Ibuka
Hirondelle News Agency
13 July 07
The general census of the survivors of the 1994 genocide carried out last April was a failure and must be redone, declared Friday the president of Ibuka (Remember), the principal organization which defends their interests.
Theodore Simburudari, who expressed himself on Radio Rwanda, indicated that this census had been improperly conducted up to "50%".
Explaining the reasons of the failure, Mr. Simburudari estimated that "the population was not sufficiently sensitized for this census and the local authorities were not implicated enough."
This observation was made at a two day evaluation meeting held at the beginning of the week at the Iwacu center of Kabusunzu in Kigali city.
During this meeting, the Secretary of State in charge of social affairs, Christine Nyatanyi, whose department had initiated this census, had actually stated that there were "unsatisfactory data" due to information distortion and an insufficient implication of the local authorities.
Ordinary citizens would have pretended to be survivors, in the hope of obtaining financial assistance. A rumour in regard to this had circulated.
This census aims, rather, to create a national plan in order to assist the needy in general, including the survivors of the genocide, specified the president of IBUKA and the Secretary of State.
Carried out by the villages’ leaders (Umudugudu), this census hastily launched, according to several observers, had been criticized already at its onset by IBUKA. The villagers’ leaders were voluntary workers.
Census agents and the local authorities are, now, in training with the aim of redoing the census.
For some observers, a problem remains : should the survivors only be Tutsis who survived the massacres, or should the also vulnerable group of Hutus who fought the genocide ideology be included ?
13 July 07
The general census of the survivors of the 1994 genocide carried out last April was a failure and must be redone, declared Friday the president of Ibuka (Remember), the principal organization which defends their interests.
Theodore Simburudari, who expressed himself on Radio Rwanda, indicated that this census had been improperly conducted up to "50%".
Explaining the reasons of the failure, Mr. Simburudari estimated that "the population was not sufficiently sensitized for this census and the local authorities were not implicated enough."
This observation was made at a two day evaluation meeting held at the beginning of the week at the Iwacu center of Kabusunzu in Kigali city.
During this meeting, the Secretary of State in charge of social affairs, Christine Nyatanyi, whose department had initiated this census, had actually stated that there were "unsatisfactory data" due to information distortion and an insufficient implication of the local authorities.
Ordinary citizens would have pretended to be survivors, in the hope of obtaining financial assistance. A rumour in regard to this had circulated.
This census aims, rather, to create a national plan in order to assist the needy in general, including the survivors of the genocide, specified the president of IBUKA and the Secretary of State.
Carried out by the villages’ leaders (Umudugudu), this census hastily launched, according to several observers, had been criticized already at its onset by IBUKA. The villagers’ leaders were voluntary workers.
Census agents and the local authorities are, now, in training with the aim of redoing the census.
For some observers, a problem remains : should the survivors only be Tutsis who survived the massacres, or should the also vulnerable group of Hutus who fought the genocide ideology be included ?
Residence of Two Accused in France Are Known.
Hirondelle News Agency
12 July 07
The residences of Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and Mr. Laurent Bucyibaruta, both exiled in France and sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide, are known.
In two distinct motions last 12 June, the ICTR prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, asked the Tribunal to authorize him to transfer them to French courts.
France is ready to try them and has jurisdiction, according to these two motions that the Hirondelle news agency obtained on Thursday.
The texts specify that the catholic priest resides, according to the last information received, at "4 Rue St-Gervais, 27 140 Gisors" in Eure, in North-Western France.
The last known address of the former prefect of Gikongoro (southern Rwanda) is "12 Cour Pablo Picasso, Apt 92, 10 120 Saint-Andre Les Vergers " in Aube, in North-Eastern France, indicates the same source.
The two men were indicted in 2005 but it was only last month that their indictments were revealed. The reason behind was "to avoid informing the defendants and impeding (their) arrests".
Rwandan authorities and representatives of the organizations of survivors have denounced the plan aiming at trying in France persons accused of genocide.
12 July 07
The residences of Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and Mr. Laurent Bucyibaruta, both exiled in France and sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide, are known.
In two distinct motions last 12 June, the ICTR prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, asked the Tribunal to authorize him to transfer them to French courts.
France is ready to try them and has jurisdiction, according to these two motions that the Hirondelle news agency obtained on Thursday.
The texts specify that the catholic priest resides, according to the last information received, at "4 Rue St-Gervais, 27 140 Gisors" in Eure, in North-Western France.
The last known address of the former prefect of Gikongoro (southern Rwanda) is "12 Cour Pablo Picasso, Apt 92, 10 120 Saint-Andre Les Vergers " in Aube, in North-Eastern France, indicates the same source.
The two men were indicted in 2005 but it was only last month that their indictments were revealed. The reason behind was "to avoid informing the defendants and impeding (their) arrests".
Rwandan authorities and representatives of the organizations of survivors have denounced the plan aiming at trying in France persons accused of genocide.
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