Arusha(INTERNEWS)--U.N Prosecutors have called upon national and international authorities to assist their tribunals by arresting and transferring immediately indicted fugitives for serious war and human crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia .

In a joint statement issued at the end of their three-day colloquium November 27,2004, the prosecutors of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR),International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia (ICTY),Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) and International Criminal Court(ICC), said that the fugitives must be brought to justice for their alleged acts.

They mentioned Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, Ante Gotovina, Felicien Kabuga and Charles Taylor as most wanted by the tribunals.

.The prosecutors reaffirm their commitment to ending impunity and deterring crimes against humanity,. stated the statement, adding that a culture of accountability must be installed and bringing about peace and reconciliation in post-conflict societies.

The colloquium was titled: ”Challenges of International Criminal Justice”.

The prosecutors also underscored progress achieved by the tribunals, and urged global community for continued support to accomplish their tasks.

“The ultimate success of these tribunals depends on the continued political support of the international community. Resources, co-operation, and assistance are essential to enforce the principle of accountability and rule of law”, the statement adds.

On prosecution of crimes, they recognized the vital role of national jurisdictions, but suggested that international institutions needed to step in when national systems lack strength or impartially.” Combined national and international efforts will be a guarantee of impartial justice.”

During their meeting, the prosecutors discussed a wide range of issues they face in bringing to justice key perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in conflict regions of the world.

The prosecutors exchanged views on successful strategies for conducting investigations, protecting witnesses and enforcing sentences against convicts of the international tribunals.

They also assessed how best to administer tribunals and to complete their work in the time limits prescribed by the United Nations.

The prosecutors have formed a task force to gather and exchange strategies and best practices for the prosecution of international crimes, and have agreed to meet again in six months in Sierra Leone .

Other presenters at the conference included, Adama Dieng, ICTR Registrar; Navanethem Pillay, Appeals Judge at the ICC and former President of the ICTR; Lovemore Munlo, Deputy Registrar of ICTR, Gavin Ruxton, Chief of Prosecutions at the ICTY; Martin Ngoga, Deputy Prosecutor Rwanda and Bernard Muna, former Deputy prosecutor ICTR.

The conference was funded by the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute.

06/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

In June this year, a former mayor of a town in eastern Rwanda was found guilty of genocide, extermination and rape. Sylvestre Gacumbitsi was sentenced by Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Arusha, Tanzania.

They convicted him of leading and participating in attacks on Tutsi refugees, gathered at Nyarubuye parish, scene of one of the worst massacres in the 1994 genocide.

“The Trial Chamber sentences Sylvestre Gacumbitsi to a single sentence of 30 years imprisonment for all the crimes for which he has been found guilty.” Judges say Gacumbitsi incited people to kill and rape, that he provided weapons and transport, and that he visited places like the Nyarubuye parish over several days, as survivors were finished off.

Nyarubuye means ‘a hard stony place' and in 1994 the local open and stone strewn landscape offered few places to hide to those fleeing for their lives. Ferdinand Rwakayigamba was one of the lucky ones who somehow managed to find shelter at Nyarubuye parish and survive the slaughter.

Today he's in charge of repairing a memorial at the parish. The bones of his wife and children are here somewhere, but he has no way of identifying them. “Today I am the only one remaining in an extended family of over 200 people, most of them died here, he says.

Jean Damascene Ngwabije lost all his family too. Before the genocide he was one of few Tutsis in the Republican Movement for National Democracy (MRND) party, one of those whose leaders planned the slaughter. His family was close to Mayor Gacumbitsi. A gifted singer, Ngwabije would sometimes accompany Gacumbitsi and other officials at party rallies, to entertain the public.

But a few months before the genocide, Ngwabije noticed Tutsis being forced out of the party, he opted to leave.

When the killing began, one of his brothers, Alphonse Kanyogote, went to Gacumbitsi for help. “He went to his house hoping he would hide him. Instead he killed my brother right at the doorstep and buried him on his land. We later dug up the bones in his garden. He also betrayed my elder brother Mulindahabi to the killers. Our family had been kind to him, we expected him to help us. Yet in my family I am the only one who remains,” Ngwabije claims.

Kanyogote's murder was debated during Gacumbitsi's trial. Judges accepted the murder took place, but said that because the prosecution had not included this allegation in their initial charges against Gacumbitsi, evidence about the murder could not be considered. Gacumbitsi was acquitted of murder. How do those who survived feel about this?

“For us we feel that those judges might as well have released him because there is no sentence there. They took it all so lightly. They have sentenced him as if he committed a common crime like raiding a shop. Murder deserves more than that, please bear in mind that over 26 and 30 thousand people died here… this is really hurting,” Rwakayigamba says.

Jean Damascene Ngwabije agrees with him. “To give Gacumbutsi thirty years is just too lenient. I think if you bear in mind what he did, then he deserves a death sentence…if he hadn't been there, not one person would have died.”

Gacumbitsi's family still lives in the same house they occupied before the genocide. They have not seen him in many years. His wife, Margueritte Mukasamayombe, thinks the sentence is too severe.

“I think 30 years are too much given that he used to lead people well. During the genocide people used to come to the house for assistance and he would help them. I saw it with my own eyes. Some of those he helped even survived. But a time came when even he was overwhelmed by the things that were happening and could do nothing to stop them,” she says.

Some disagree with that version of events. Jean Damascene Ngwabije says that Gacumbitsi played a key role in everything including rapes, and was indifferent to the victims.

"Before the war he had some Interahamwe (militia) boys he used to bring here, he would hold meetings and incite them. After that they started raping and defiling women, if the victims reported the rapes, he would tell them, what is wrong with having a little sex?” he recalls.

Away from Nyarubuye, debate continues on whether Gacumbitsi's sentence is fair or not. ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow says justice has been done.

“We are satisfied with the verdict. It vindicates the case the prosecution has been trying to prove all along that Mr Gacumbitsi who was a leader in Rwanda participated extensively in the genocide and got others to participate as well, he killed, he raped and got others to do the same so we are very satisfied with the verdict,” Jallow states.

But the government of Rwanda is not satisfied. Chief Prosecutor Jean de Dieu Mucyo says the sentence does not accurately reflect the extent of Gacumbitsi's crimes. “ For us thirty years is too little given all the evidence produced against him and the type of crimes he committed. Each of the crimes for which he committed, genocide, extermination and rape deserve a life sentence on their own. Yet for all of the crimes they gave him only thirty years,” he says.

Mucyo hopes Gacumbitsi's sentence will be changed on appeal, to life imprisonment. If not, he says the Rwandan government will request that Gacumbitsi at least serve his term in a Rwandan prison.

Gacumbitsi's lawyer Kouengoua also looks forward to the appeal. He claims that the ICTR was not fair to his client as it did not consider the evidence of defense witnesses.

“The way I see it now this is the justice of the victors over the vanquished. If I say I am satisfied I will be lying. I cannot be satisfied,” he says.

Gacumbitsi will remain in the UN detention facility at Arusha, pending his appeal.

06/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

Between 1994 and the year 2003, the National Courts in Rwanda tried over 5,000 genocide cases and sentenced over 698 people to death. It is a sentence that sits well with many survivors who see the death penalty as the ultimate justice for the crimes perpetrated against them and their families.

But the sentence raises fundamental moral questions. Has it been a fair sentence in all the cases it has been applied? And does it foster reconciliation or not?

There are also some tricky legal issues too. For example most defendants tried immediately after the genocide were convicted under homicide laws. Following the enactment of the genocide act twenty two were executed in public across Rwanda in April 1998 prompting an international outcry.

Rwanda 's laws were duly modified to offer more lenient sentences to suspects who confessed to genocide. The introduction of Gacaca – a quasi traditional court system – reinforced that approach. But these moves have sparked a fresh controversy, with some seeing them as forms of amnesty.

Abraham Ngulinzira is one of those caught in between. He was a farmer, and admits to participating in the killings. “I was walking and I met people who were marching someone ahead of them, they ordered me to kill him, and to be frank I killed him and then continued on my way. I accepted that early on,” he says.

Ngulinzira was tried in 1998 and sentenced to death. This despite the fact the Prosecution team urged the judges to consider his confession. Ironically, if he was tried today, Ngulinzira would be considered a category 2 genocide suspect. That means, among other things, that he would not face the death sentence.

Fellow prisoner John Uwonkunda a former assistant mayor was tried for inciting and instructing people to kill. He is a Category I suspect, which means he is charged with planning and orchestrating killings. In his defense he insists that he never killed anyone.

"I shot at them, later I came to know that I had not killed anyone,” Uwonkunda insists.

Fabien Bayingana was also sentenced to death. “We killed a certain Habyarimana, and four children of a man called Canissius, as well as a young girl that I knew.”

So, according to the law that was working at the time of their trial, Abraham Ngulinzira, John Uwonkunda and Fabien Bayingana all deserve the death sentence. But the law has changed, and so has the emphasis shifted from retributive justice to reconciliation. What will this eventually mean for the country?

Alison Des Forges works as an Advisor to Human Rights Watch. She says that for reconciliation to take root in Rwanda, genocide survivors must feel and see that justice has been done. But she also believes that the death penalty is not the only way.

“I can understand why people who have lost family members or who have been harmed themselves physically could well feel that nothing short of the death penalty would be satisfactory. Still other forms of punishment can in fact be very severe and someone who has to face his life in prison may in fact be better punished than someone who was simply executed”, Des Forges points out.

The current sentencing regime leaves offenders like Ngulinzira outside Rwanda 's reconciliation process even when they are willing to take part. “I accepted my guilt very early on. I even went to the chief prosecutor's office and confessed, after a few days they called me back and they told me that my file has already been taken to the courts, and advised me to plead guilty before the court. When I went to court I accepted my responsibility even before the trial began the prosecutor accepted my confession, but the court refused to look into it,” he laments.

His sentence has had a drastic impact on him and his family. “I had only been in jail two years and my wife decided to hit the road. They told me she married someone else and I took it like that. It is such a long time since I was visited, it is so long! No one visits me,” he says with a sigh.

Ngulinzira's wife, Vedianne Mukakabibi, lives in the Birambo area of Kigali Rural. She has two children both less than five years old and a third on the way. When asked what she thinks of her husband's sentence it turns out that nobody told her it was the death penalty. “ I really didn't know. I hope they forgive him. He won't do it again,” she says.

She says she broke off contact with her husband, because of she no longer had the means to visit. “I used to visit him but I stopped because I have nothing to bring for him. I have nothing at all. Life is very bad, when I get malaria I just sleep, I do not have any drugs. Nothing to eat, no clothes…”

Like Abraham, John Uwonkunda says he confessed to his crimes and hoped to have his death sentence reduced. But many survivors wonder about such confessions. Alphonse Rwambari is from Gikomero, where John Uwonkunda was assistant mayor. Rwambari doubts his sincerity. “It is clear that he realized they were going to give him a heavy sentence so he decided to confess, in my view someone ought to confess the crimes before he knows that he will get a stiff sentence.”

Francois Xavier Gashumba appeared in court with Uwonkunda on several occasions. Gashumba is one of the prisoners whose cases were evaluated much later. He was put in Category 2 and released last year to await Gacaca proceedings.

He finds Uwonkunda's alleged confession surprising, given the attitude he displayed before the court. “He denied the charges against him. He said he didn't do any of those things. If he accepted his responsibilities he must have done it after we left because before that he used to say he did nothing wrong,” Gashumba recalls.

Celestin Kabega was in the same prison as the former assistant mayor. He, too, remembers a more defiant Uwonkunda. “Before court he pleaded not guilty and said the charges against him were false. The prosecutor charged him with leading attacks but he denied the charges,” he confirms.

It is such contradictions that leave many like Rwambari wonders about the long-term impact of people changing their stories and sometimes going free as a result. “It is obvious that some of those people are not making a heartfelt confession and are only doing so to save their own skin. I do not know if when such people come to live with the families of those they killed whether that situation will work and whether such a person has truly repented,” Rwambari muses.

There are inevitably, perhaps, more questions than answers here. For example, if some confessions are not seen as credible, is Rwanda 's reconciliation process being undermined by a legal system which rewards them, nevertheless? And if so, would the death penalty be a fair alternative, in such cases?

Benoit Kaboyi in charge of justice issues in IBUKA, the association of survivors. He sees the death penalty as a strong deterrent. “For me when I think about the death penalty I do not think of it in terms of unity and reconciliation. I look at the fact that these crimes were committed and there should be a corresponding punishment. The death penalty is important because it teaches the perpetrator and society in general that people who commit such heinous crimes will be punished in the same manner,” he asserts.

Rwanda's prosecutor general Jean De Dieu Mucyo says that while there might be a need to look at the law again, any decision on whether or not to maintain the death sentences would have to take in the diverse views of Rwandans and international observers. “The death penalty is there in our law that has not changed. That is a big debate that is relevant to all Rwandans, it is not something that affects only one part of the society, what we could probably ask is for a forum to be set up so that people can express their views about it,” he says.

Andrew Hakizimana is a former neighbor of Abraham Ngulinzira. He believes reconciliation might be easier if Ngulinzira and others convicted were allowed out of jail to meet local people, and make a public apology. "It would be better if he would be released and he came and confessed his crime to the population where he committed the crimes,"

At present, however, prisoners tried and sentenced in the earlier years or those currently in category I are not allowed out of jail to participate in Gacaca, or to have any contact with the wider public. So how can they play a positive role, or any role, in peace and reconciliation?

“What we ask of those accused of crimes, whether in prison or under provisional release is that they confess and ask for forgiveness. For those in category I they cannot be released, but if they confess before trial, the sentence can be reduced, for example from death penalty to life in prison. Although Gacaca cannot preside over their crimes the testimony they give can help Gacaca and inversely what people say in Gacaca helps us prosecute those in Category I, the only problem of course is that some people confess lower crimes and are released and then you find they had kept quiet about something otherwise their confessions are useful for the Gacaca courts,” says Mucyo, Rwanda's prosecutor general.

Echoing this theme, Francois Xavier Gashumba says people who are not sincere, especially in public, cannot possibly assist the reconciliation process. “What would they come to tell Gacaca yet they denied the charges when they were being tried? But if they accept responsibility, testify publicly and act as examples they can help, otherwise if they do not accept what they did how can that help?” he asks.

But if condemned prisoners accept they did wrong, will their subsequent execution help Rwanda ? They think not. “We are sorry for what we did. But we want punishments that are reduced. There should be mercy alongside punishments; we think this is within the government's program ,” says Uwonkunda.

Benoit Kabuye doubts the sincerity of prisoners who confess and then demand to be forgiven. He says they have no right to easy absolution . “ Forgiveness should not be based on blackmail. There is a way to ask for and receive forgiveness. Forgiveness should not exonerate people from just punishment. Forgiveness is one thing, punishment is another, one can be sentenced to two years, to compensate the victim as per the law, and in the very same way, he can be sentenced to death,” Kaboyi insists.

Indeed some survivors say the government program of reducing sentences does not always consider the interests and opinions of local communities and this may not foster reconciliation at all. “For us we consider that there is nothing we can change about the situation.... (the detainee) has accepted his crimes and has confessed before the court and asked forgiveness from the state apparatus. It's okay. For us all we see are people being released, they came here, they have been forgiven elsewhere, and we have no role or say in that, Rwambari says.

But there is logic to the law, at least according to the prosecutor general. “The way I understand it is that not all people will accept responsibility for crimes at the same time. I might think about what I have done and what I have been taught and confess my crimes today another person might take his time to reflect and confess later that is why we have different sentences depending on when someone confessed, whether they confessed before being charged of any wrong doing, whether they confessed when they were confronted with the charges, or whether they have refused to confess to any crimes,” he explains.

For now at least, those sentences will continue to include the death penalty. Some prisoners though, have benefited from the alternatives that have developed over time. Francois Xavier, for example, says confession has brought much more than freedom. It has brought peace of mind. “After asking and receiving forgiveness from those that I hurt, the heaviness in my heart lifted, before, I felt inhuman, dead inside, because I had done terrible things but when they allowed us to ask for forgiveness, I did and I felt completely relieved, today I am taken just like any other villager with all of his rights.”

Justice after genocide can never be an easy task. Those tried under the national courts, or facing death sentences, may feel they no longer have a role in the Rwandan society, no matter what they are told or asked to do. Some survivors may feel that reducing sentences or releasing prisoners is amnesty, not justice.

But perhaps if Rwandans can meet and talk together about the genocide, about justice, about peace – among family, with friends and neighbors in their community, or even in a national forum as suggested by the Chief Prosecutor, then they might just find a way to move forward together.

06/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have concluded their case against four high ranking members of the former Rwandan military and alleged masterminds of the 1994 genocide.

The prosecutor at the Tribunal, in Arusha Tanzania , brought 81 witnesses against Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva and Major Aloys Ntabakuze. Witnesses included former UN Commander Romeo Dallaire, Belgian soldiers and human rights campaigners who chronicled the Rwandan genocide.

“The evidence is absolutely strong and overwhelming… I am absolutely confident that we will secure a conviction against the four of them at the end of the trial,” says Prosecutor Bubacar Jallow.

However, those defending the accused, say the case is not over yet. “Far from it, our view as the defense is that the prosecutor came up with charges without having any evidence… a good percentage of the testimony that we have has nothing to do with what was initially alleged, our view is that the prosecutor has not proved to the required standards what they set out to prove”

The military trial is considered one of the most important cases at the ICTR. The defense will begin to present their arguments against the case in January, and it is expected that the facts in the case will be hotly contested. But already there are problems. Shortly after the end of the prosecution case, the court dismissed the lead lawyer for Brigadier Kabiligi, Jean Yaovi Degli on charges of swindling.

“Mr. Degli…engaged himself in conduct that was fraudulent and deceitful … contrary to the professional code of conduct under which he is guided when he is working here,” Lovemore Green Munlo, the deputy registrar at the ICTR reported.

Mr. Degli allegedly hired Sylvia Olympio as an assisting lawyer on falsified legal qualification. He then received three hundred and eighty thousand US dollars as her salary but allegedly paid Olympio only eighty thousand dollars and put the rest into his wife's bank account. The court is currently looking for a way to recover the money and considering filing a civil or criminal suit against Degli.

These are not the first accusations of financial fraud to be made at the ICTR against defense counsel. Several of lawyers have been cited in previous investigations and even fired but Jean Yaovi Degli he is the first lawyer to be dismissed while his clients case in on trial.

Fellow lawyers say the court say Degli should have been given a hearing before the court took its decision.

“The decision which was rendered by the registrar did not afford our colleague his full right to be heard. He should be afforded the same right to the presumption of innocence like everyone else,” Nicole Bergevin, the vice president of the Defense Lawyers Association (ADAD) noted.

Jean Yaovi Degli has asked the ICTR for an independent judicial enquiry, to try to clear his name. But even as the court considers what to do with the case, Degli's controversial dismissal leaves his former client Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi without his main lawyer. So what happens when the defense case opens in January 2005?

Melanie Werrett, the Chief of Prosecution doesn't think there is any problem at all. “ He did have a co-counsel for most of the trial…That co-counsel has dealt with the trial throughout most of the period, and hopefully knows the case, so if you ask my personal opinion I don't see a problem with him continuing with assistance because now it's only just the defense case.

Nicole Bergevin points out that the situation is more complicated. “The accused is the first victim of all this, he is the principal victim because he now has just lost his lawyer who was on the case for seven years and he is to start his defense of the 12th of January, so our position on this is that we sincerely hope that the chamber will give him sufficient delay to prepare adequately his defense because now he is in a very serious position.”

Degli was the lead counsel for Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, the former head of military operations of the former Rwandan army (ex-FAR). Kabiligi has pleaded not guilty.

07/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

The former mayor of Mukingo commune in Ruhengeri Province Western Rwanda was recently found guilty of genocide, extermination, and public and direct incitement to genocide. He was sentenced to life in prison. Juvenal Kajelijeli, was arrested in Benin in 1998. His trial began in 2002 and came to an end after 78 days of hearings.

In the years since 1994, Mukingo commune has changed its name to Mutobo, and now has a new Mayor, Epimaque Samvura.

Samvura's father and brother were taken away by Kajelijeli in 1993 and never seen again.

“He killed many people, 360 families from around this area and about 900 other people their deaths were perpetrated by Kajelijeli and his people,” Samvura says.

Gaudence Mujawamariya is also a survivor of the genocide. She lost several of her family members.

She wishes Kajelijeli's trial had taken place nearer home. “It would be better if they would give him up and let him be imprisoned in Rwanda , then people would know that he is actually here in prison, at home. It is would also make him think and remember what he did if he is jailed in the country where he committed the crimes.”

To Samvura the life sentence given to Kajelijeli is only acceptable because the court cannot give him the sentence that he would prefer.

“It is what is permissible by international law, if it was up to me I would say he deserves to die, he should have been executed before the members of the population that he hurt,” Samvura says.

Kajelijeli's former wife still lives near Mutobo. She declined our invitation to be interviewed, saying she has nothing to be happy about.

The ICTR also recently found Jean De Dieu Kamuhanda, a former minister of education and higher research, guilty of genocide and extermination.

During trial, Kamuhanda claimed that he was nowhere near the killings, because they were taking place in a war zone, and it was impossible to move about.

This alibi, however, did not sway the judges who said Kamuhanda had betrayed the people of his native district Gikomero. He was convicted of having distributed weapons and instigated killings.

“Kamuhanda was a respected man, influential and considered to be an intellectual, he was in a position to know and appreciate the value and dignity of life and also the value and importance of a peaceful coexistence between communities,” judges noted during his sentencing.

The judges stated that Kamuhanda could have promoted the values of tolerance but that instead doing so he blamed people who were living peacefully of not taking part in the campaign of violence.

“He instigated and led an attack to kill people who had taken shelter in a place universally recognized as a sanctuary, the compound of the Gikomero Parish Church . As a result of this attack many people were massacred,” presiding judge William Sekule pointed out. Kamuhanda was sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life.

Christine Muhutukazi survived the massacres that Kamuhanda organized at Gikomero. She's a teacher, and says someone like that deserves a harsher lesson than life in jail.

“These innocent people, who were killed, had done nothing. Those guilty of killing them should also be killed,” she reckons.

Bernadette Mukanyangoma similarly lost many relatives in 1994. These days, she appears to have lost faith in the justice system and is reluctant to comment on the case.

“Didn't the killings start with the people in power? It is useless for us to say anything about it, why should we make comments when we can do nothing about their implementation? The authorities are the ones who decide the weight of the crime and the punishment it deserves what power have we of punishing or forgiving?”

But not everyone agrees that Kamuhanda is guilty. His family is mixed Hutu and Tutsi. Some of them insist he never visited Gikomero. Kamuhanda's nephew, Pascal Habyaremi , accompanied several survivors to Arusha, when they testified that Kamuhanda never participated in genocide. He feels the sentence was not a reasonable one. “It is very unfair; I cannot express how unfair it is, the court has been very unjust.”

Kamuhanda's sister Savel Mukaminani says she's still in shock. She remembers heavy fighting in areas around Gikomero between soldiers from the army and the RPF. She can't believe her brother slipped through the conflict, and crossed RPF lines to kill Tutsis.

“I was not happy with the sentence. He did not do the things they accuse him of doing. They say he came to Gikomero on the 12 th , but the truth is that he was never there.”

Kajelijeli and Kamuhanda both have the right to appeal their sentences. The final verdicts, in each of their cases, are expected later this year.

07/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

One of the most important witnesses from the 1994 genocide, Canadian General Romeo Dallaire recently made his appearance at the UN Tribunal for Rwanda .

Dalliare was commander of the UN mission in Rwanda and later wrote a book, Shaking Hands with the Devil . In it, he describes several meetings with Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, a former Chief of Cabinet in the Ministry of Defense during the course of the genocide.

Bagosora is on trial in Arusha for crimes related to genocide, and the former Canadian commander appeared to testify against him.

Dalliare says that shortly after the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6 th , politicians who were expected to take over the running of the country were all assassinated by the military. This allowed Bagosora to take total control of the government and the armed forces.

By the next day, says Dalliare, Belgian UN troops stationed in Rwandan military camps were being beaten up, and Tutsis in Kigali were under attack by the Presidential guard. Dallaire offered Bagosora some UN troops to protect the civilians and the Belgian contingent, but says he was told not to interfere. Throughout these events, Dallaire says the Bagosora continued to demonstrate that he was completely in charge.

Dallaire says he tried to avert all-out war between government soldiers and the RPF battalion in Kigali , allowed in under a peace accord. But by the end of April 7 th , he knew he'd failed. Rwanda 's Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was killed with her husband. Also killed were ten Belgian UN soldiers sent to guard her.

Dalliare says that during those events, Bagosora hardly batted an eyelid.

“What I found incredible to witness, certainly as an officer of the military is that I have never found somebody so calm and so at ease with what was going on. He received a few phone calls and one or two officers, shuffled papers and signed some documents in a very slow and methodical fashion. It was as if something was operating per plan... It was surreal.”

Prosecution lawyers claim Bagosora was the 'de facto leader' and 'mastermind' of the 1994 genocide. They showed archive film of him in meetings with Dallaire and other senior UN officials, to illustrate his high status at the time. Dallaire adds that when he wanted to meet the militia, he had to go through Bagasora.

Once, he claims, after an official disagreement, Bagosora even threatened to shoot him. According to ICTR prosecutor Bubacar Jallow, Dallaire's testimony was very important.

“He saw what happened, he witnessed the tragic events, he witnessed the roles played by some of the accused that are here, he is in a position to testify to the tribunal and let the whole world know.”

Bagosora's lead counsel Raphael Constant, challenged Dallaire's testimony, saying that Dallaire had deliberately played down the role of the Rwandan Patriotic Front in the events of those early days.. Assistant counsel Didier Skolnik chose another angle: he challenged Dalliare's allegation that Bagosora had threatened to kill him. “If it is true how come Dallaire never made a report of this to New York , how come he never spoke about it in his book?

Dallaire's testimony lasted four days in Arusha. The case continues, with Prosecution presenting further evidence against Bagosora and his three co-defendants. These are Brigadier-General Gratien Kabiligi, former Chief of Rwanda Army operations; Major Aloys Ntabakuze Head of the Para-commando Unit, and Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, who was in charge of the Gisenyi military camp.

06/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

#F The Kigali genocide memorial stands atop Gisozi Hill in Kigali Rwanda . Here, the Rwandan government with the assistance of Aegis trust has created a place for the commemoration of the past with the hope that it will ensure a better future.

“This place is not just for survivors. It's not just important for survivors. Their dead family members may be here, but history concerns more than just survivors, history concerns the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. The history written here is important to every Rwandan, survivor or not,” says Harriet Mutegwaraba, a guide at the memorial.

The memorial has two sections. Bodies of those who died in Rwanda 's capital are buried in specially-constructed concrete bunkers. Plaques on the wall indicate the names of known victims. Some bodies were collected on streets and toilets. Many names remain unknown.

But this place is more than a cemetery. In the memorial garden, flowing water represents hope for a peaceful future. In the middle of a small pool, a torch shines its light 100 days each year, to symbolize the tragedy of genocide, and remind every visitor, to help prevent it happening again.

The Kigali Genocide Memorial was renovated by AEGIS, an international organization working to prevent genocide. AEGIS is also renovating the Murambi memorial site, situated in Gikongoro, central Rwanda , but this is not the work of one international organization only, according to the country director Appolon Kabahizi.

“ Even before we found the money to do it, Rwandans had already done a lot. There was already a Gisozi memorial including the house and Murambi was already in place. All we did was to change the buildings when the money became available,” he explains.

Some documents and photographs on display at Gisozi Memorial show a disturbing part of Rwanda 's past which can never be forgotten. Other sections show positive aspects which all Rwandans can be proud of according to AEGIS employee Potrin Kabahizi.

There is a section that ‘ shows Rwanda and its culture, how people used to live in the earlier days and the homogeneity of its people.'

As the visitor moves through the memorial, pictures and writing on the wall relates and explains Rwanda 's gradual descent into genocide. For example, the section on colonialism outlines both the benefits of external rule, such as schools and health centres, and the drawbacks, such as the introduction of ethnic identity cards.

A short film shows Rwanda 's pre-colonial and colonial history, the introduction of racial theories, how the Tutsi were at first specially favored, then how political patronage swung against them, in favor the Hutu. The visitor then learns about the violence which ensued against Tutsis

Another display shows how media incited genocide, including a list of '10 Hutu Commandments' and anti-Tutsi cartoons, as published in Kangura newspaper. These sought to forbid social relations with Tutsis, and mocked them with an ominous tone.

The visitor can examine various warnings, sent in vain to the outside world as mass murder loomed over Rwanda . One such message was sent by Jean Pierre, a presidential guard.

“He told a colonel called Luk Marchal of the UN Army that there were 1,700 Interahamwe ( armed militia) who had already been trained by the military and 300 being trained each week. According to Jean Pierre, the plan was to be able to kill 1,000 people every twenty minutes. They didn't protect him, he disappeared, he was murdered but nobody knows where he is buried.'

The memorial also displays a more sinister, coded warning that came from Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, who was part of the Rwandan delegation at the Arusha Peace Talks which tried and failed to stabilize Rwanda 's fragile political situation. Unhappy with the results of those discussions, Bagasora said he was going back to Rwanda to prepare for the 'apocalypse'.

“When you enter here what you see are e atrocities, what Bagosora had referred to as the apocalypse,” Potrin says as he indicates images and stories of what happened during the genocide. George Muhigana and Epiphany Mujawamariya were two lovers, found murdered. The chain used to bind them is also on display, alongside weapons used in the genocide.

Also on display are the stories of those who tried to save others during the genocide.. There is not enough space to highlight all those who died trying to help others, but the museum provides an idea of who resisted, and how.

For example, Yahaya Nsengiyumva saved over 30 people, Sula Karuhimbi, a traditional healer in her seventies who saved 17 lives, Frodouald Karuhije, Dismas Gisimba, and Mama Sifa are all people who risked their lives to save others during the genocide.

There is a section that outlines the difficulties after genocide. “Her e we see the problems with refugees leaving the country, and many returning after years in exile. There were people in camps near the borders. There was political activity in those camps, with some people terrorizing the refugees so that they do not return. There were also attacks by Hutu militia infiltrating from the Congo in 1997 which made people fear that the genocide was returning,” he says.

The memorial pays tribute to thousands of children killed in the genocide. AEGIS has collected photos and information about these youngsters, about, what they liked, about their friends, and about how they died. For example, Thierry, Chanelle and Francine were hacked to death with machetes. David was tortured, Ariane aged 4, was stabbed in the eyes and head. Fidele was shot, Fillette was smashed against a wall.

Space has been left for visitors to put up pictures of any other children who died. Potrin hopes the memorials will have a positive impact.

“The importance of these memorials is that they make someone reflect on this from their heart, when they see the evil of genocide; they can hopefully be convinced within themselves that this should never happen again,” he says.

In a separate part of the museum, one can learn about the history of other genocides, such as those which happened in Nazi Germany, Bosnia , Namibia , Russia and Armenia .

The Murambi memorial is largely similar. In pictures, sounds and writing it narrates the situation in the colonial, post colonial and the period immediately after the invasion by the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

The memorial has a special section on the international community, UN soldiers, and in particular, the controversial role of French military towards the end of the genocide, in the so-called humanitarian ‘Zone Turquoise', which covered a geographical area including Murambi.

But why is it important to build memorials?

“If we do not remember what happened, how will we avoid repeating it? Sometimes we think that we know these things, but even for me, a Rwandan who was here during the genocide, there is a lot that I only learnt after I started working here,” Appollon Kabahizi says. Emelie Rutangonya has visited the Murambi site. He thinks it makes a difference.

“What I would tell those who have never come here, and they are many, is that it is important to visit these memorials; they represent part of our history. To acknowledge that at a point in our history some of us became predators and attacked people who had never done anything wrong to them and then take time to reflect on it,” he says.

At the entrance of the Murambi genocide memorial is a statement made by Felicien Ntagegwa, a Tutsi, during the genocide.

  It says 'If you had known yourself, and known me well, you would not have killed me.'

06/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

Ntongwe district in Gitarama is a quiet rural area where people farm the land and graze their cattle. But in April 1994, it was a dangerous and hostile place for Tutsis trying to flee from ruthless militia seeking to kill them.

Frodouald Karuhije is a mason who was living in Ntongwe at that time. But while other people in his community were busy killing, he was busy saving lives.

Karuhije had little power to stop the genocide. Instead, he relied on his wits, looking for Tutsis and hiding them in pits he dug on his farm. “Some of the women were too big and could not fit in. The men withstood such conditions much better. They squeezed in and lay down.”

Karuhije often went out of his way to find and hide Tutsis, even if he didn't know them very well. He found Emmanuel Twagirayezu at the Shongwe parish, hiding with some of his colleagues. “He updated me on Ntongwe and told me to go with him, so that he could hide me. I didn't believe he could protect me, I thought it was all over, we were just waiting to die. I told him there was nothing he could do and suggested we enter the church and pray.” Twagirayezu remembers.

“Honestly, I thought he just wanted to find out where I was hiding so he could tell others, especially seeing as we had made no previous arrangement that he would search for me in Shogwe,” he adds.

It was the local pastor, Celestin Hategekimana; also hiding Tutsis, that convinced Emmanuel to take up the offer of protection. Emmanuel says he accepted Karuhihe's offer as a last resort. “ We had decided that staying and leaving amounted to the same thing. You know? One death is the same as another, and since we were close to the end, we thought we might as well try all our options,” he recalls.

Fidentia Mukamwiza, is a large buxom woman who enjoys a good laugh. But in 1994, her family were chased from several hiding places by people who feared for their own lives if caught helping Tutsis. As the killings increased, hiding became harder. According to Fidentia, when their hosts saw what was happening they became afraid and chased her and her nice Claudette, away.

“We walked alone in the night. On our way we passed through Karuhije's house and asked him to escort us. He said: “The swamps are full of Interahamwe (militia). They will kill you. But if you stay here, I will hide you” . He dug a trench overnight, his wife assisted him dispose of the dirt. At dawn, he took us to it so we could hide,” she remembers.

Karuje also hid women with children in irrigation ditches and covered them with weeds. Fidentia recalls how she and the others survived in these ditches, for over a month.

“Every night after the patrols, when it was safe, he'd put sweet potatoes in a bucket and drop it in the ditch with a gallon of water, so we could eat. Sometimes he would enter the ditch and tell us: ‘I will take you out at dawn so you can stretch your legs '. He would take us to his house and light a fire for us to get warm, as it was the rainy season ” she narrates.

But it was a difficult time, without even the most basic amenities. “If you wanted to go to the toilet, there was a tin. Later, he would dispose of it. That's how we survived.”

Karuhije's sister-in-law Beata Mukamurenzi helped Fidentia and others hiding from the militia death squads. She says it was a very dangerous job. “Karuhije would sometimes bring people we didn't know and tell us to help them, so that's what we did. He had a good heart. You know it was a bad time. Many people died for hiding Tutsis.”

Karuhije and his family managed to hide and feed seventeen people: seven men, seven women and three children. Despite his efforts to maintain appearances, people got suspicious.

Twagirayezu says the killers would pass right next to Karujihe's secret pit, where he and several other men were hiding, but Karuhije ensured they wouldn't guess at what was happening.

“He had dug all round the pit and planted sweet potatoes. Looters would pass every morning and see him digging and say "Hey Karuhije, what's the matter with you, you spend all your time farming, don't you know what's happening?” He would reply: “Sure, I'm coming, just let me finish a little work here and I'll be right with you."

Hostile neighbors sometimes saw refugees moving from the ditches to the house and demanded bribes to keep quiet. Others told the Interhamwe, who came to search and ransack the house, again and again. Sometimes, Karuhije and his family were assaulted by these militia death squads. One night in particular stands out in Karuhije's mind.

“The Interahamwe came with guns,” Karuhije recalls. “Luckily the fugitives were still in the ditch, I had not yet brought them into the house.”

But it would not be so easy for those in the house. “The militia beat us up. I was with my wife and my sister-in-law, my brother had already fled. Despite the beatings, they denied I was hiding anyone, and in any case they did not know the exact location of the ditches,” Karuhije says, smiling.

According to him, the attackers thought the refugees were staying in his house and didn't know about the trenches. “ I was the only one who knew where they were apart from my five year- old niece, who would take food to them in the evening in a bin while, pretending to throw away rubbish.”

Karuhije received help from a neighbor, Gaspard Nsengiyumva. Gaspard provided shelter for those too sick to stay in the ditches or canals. He says it was not easy. “What we did required self-sacrifice. As you know, at that time they'd announced that anyone caught hiding Tutsis would be killed with them. To do what he did, was like accepting your own death sentence,” he says.

In July 1994 militia finally discovered the women's hiding place. After long negotiations, Karuhije and the women were spared. But Karuhuje was worried about the men, so he left to get help before they too were discovered. Emmanuel says that when he did this, Karuhije once again risked his life.

“On his way, Karuhije met some people coming from Kabgayi, they stopped him and checked his identity card. They said, 'It is a Hutu, one of those who's been killing us”. They started to harass him, until a man called Zack asked them to stop, saying: “ I know this man; he saved my wife and children”

Karuhije's brought back Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) soldiers before the militia found the hiding men. In total, he saved over twenty-five lives.

06/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

A few kilometres from Gitarama town in Central Rwanda lives 87 year-old Sula Karuhimbi, or Mama Domitila , a local healer .

During the 1994 genocide, b y force of personality and reputation alone, she somehow managed to hide more than 20 Tutsis in her house and farm over many weeks.

But the militia found out, and began to demand that she hand them over. Sula refused and adopted all kinds of tricks to protect her fugitives. “One man came to me with wounds on his head; I pounded herbs to treat him. Just then, the attackers came, demanding to know what I was doing with the people in the house. I said I was treating their skin ailments. They insisted on seeing them, so I brought out the one who had wounds on the head. I had smeared the rest with ash and dust so they looked sick. “

When the attackers asked Sula about her relationship with the people in her house, she said they were relatives wounded in the conflict, but the militia were not so easily convinced.

“The argument did not work. So I tried another tactic, using bells and gourds. I began chanting and shaking them, saying I was calling on the spirits of the dead to kill them,” the old woman narrates, laughing.

Mama Domitila 's ruse worked, and the superstitious militia left her alone. One of those hiding in the house at the time was Wellace Ntaganira. Sula recalls the night he showed up at her door, at the very start of the trouble. “Wellace Ntaganira came from Kigali the night President Habyarimana died. I hid him in one of the two houses in the compound. When I realized things were getting complicated, I moved him to the main house,” she recalls.

Wellace says he will never forget her courage. “She is a heroine. What she did was very difficult and rare in those days. I think God worked through her. I am alive, but many others died,” he says.

Mary Mukarwemba lost her husband and children, but she was saved by Sula. She says the elderly healer had a smart system to ensure her survival. “She had many crops like sweet potatoes and cassava on her land. She would take me to hide in the farm in the morning,” Mukarwemba remembers.

“After she finished working she would check to see if I was still OK. At night she would take me back into the house. Sometimes she would hide me in her house and lock it. When she came back she would open it for me to leave,” Mukarwemba recalls.

Annociata Mukagakwaya's husband and daughter were killed. She suffered severe wounds to her head but managed to escape. She was desperate to hide. That's when she found Sula. “She took me to her place and treated my wounds. She tried to feed me but the food would not go down. She also brought my brother into her house. I survived because of her efforts,” she states.

But trouble was brewing. When Mama Sula's grandson arrived home from Kigali , he insisted all Tutsis must leave their property. Annonciata says she'll never forget that day. “Her grandson was a bandit, he came and threatened me with a sword, saying: “You are hard to take care of. You are not even eating and if you stay you will bring us trouble. Get out! Join your brother, wherever he is hiding!”

When she saw what had happened, Sula took Annonciata to the house of her niece in a nearby town. But even here, peace was not to be found. “Her niece paid someone 2,000 francs to hide me, but two weeks later he threw me out. I slept in a swamp and in the morning I returned to Mama Domitila's without her grandson knowing.”

All those forced from the home of Sula survived the genocide. Wellace wishes more people had followed her courageous example. “What we should learn from this example is that to do such things does not require miracles or extravagant means. All it requires is a giving and loving heart.”

Annonciata too, is eternally grateful to the elderly healer who saved so many lives. “These people should be rewarded, they came to our aid, they saved small children as well as old people, they took care of us in their houses …. Isn't that something that deserves a reward?”

06/11/2004

Arusha/Kigali

by Mary Kimani

The stories of those who saved others during the genocide are profiled in a book called Tribute to Courage, published by African Rights. But the book highlights only seventeen cases. Why so few?

Rakiya Omar, the director of African Rights, and says accuracy is crucial, particularly because often, the same individual saved lives but also killed people.

“Very often they would save someone they knew or someone who had fled to their house, they would go out of their way to make sure that they were safe, and then they would join the Interahamwe militia to go and kill others,” she says.

“It is time-consuming to verify in the first instance that the people we profile were truly heroes of the genocide and were not also killers as well, because obviously we would not want to pay tribute to someone who was in any way involved in the genocide,” she explains.

Rakiya says that more should be done to tell the stories of these people and others like them particularly those who paid the ultimate price for their efforts. This, she reckons, might also help those left behind.

“It is unfortunate that the families of those who died (while saving others) are not being looked after, are not recognized. They must wonder why their sisters, fathers and brothers and husbands made that sacrifice, if the nation of Rwanda and Africans do not even know their names, let alone what they did."

Emmanuel Twagirayezu was saved by Frodouald Karuhije. Twagirayezu believes there are plenty of lessons for everyone.

“What Karuhije did was simply heroic. If more people had joined together and acted with the same dedication, Tutsis wouldn't have died. People like Karuhije took a great risk; they could have done bad things to him or even killed him as they killed Tutsis, says Emmanuel Twagirayezu.

Karuhije's sister-in-law Beatah Mukamurenzi agrees that such courage sets a good example for others to follow during conflict. “The lesson they give is clear, it's very obvious that just to watch someone die, while you know you could intervene to help them, is not good. Anyone can and should intervene. Everyone should do that” Mukamurenzi reckons.

In Cyangugu, the refusal of two Tutsi priests, Father Ignace Kabera and Father Joseph Boneza to abandon fellow refugees had devastating consequences.

Although they managed to save many lives, the two priests increasingly came under threat, particularly from a militia man called Bandetse, who came every day searching for Father Boneza.

Sister Bernadette, a nun who was assisting them says that on May 16 th , she heard Bandetse say he would kill the priest. Three days later, following repeated threats to his life, Father Boneza finally decided to evacuate.

He and Sister Bernadette took a vehicle to Cyangugu. She says they were followed by a car full of militia and ambushed near a shopping centre.

“They caught up with us at Gihundwe, they pulled in front and blocked our path. They got out and asked him if he was Joseph, then they took him out. When they took him I asked him if they were going to kill him, they told me I must get out too. I was so scared, I couldn't move. They grabbed and pulled me out. They took Father Boneza near a kiosk, and killed him,” Sister Bernadette recalls.

The significance of Father Boneza's murder is not lost on refugees like Catherine Kayundo, who survived the genocide.

“Father Joseph Boneza could have been evacuated in the same way he was evacuating others, but he refused to leave us. Father Ignace Kabera could have gone, but he refused to leave; they agreed to stay with us, until it was all over,” she says.

But Wellace Ntaganira is not so sure that anyone in the country is learning anything from the past.

“Is there any lesson that Rwandans have never been given? Yet to bear those lessons in mind has always been too hard for them,” Ntaganira says bitterly.

“Maybe slowly with God's help we will finally begin to understand. There is nobody who could not have saved people,” he notes.

“There are those who did terrible things during the genocide but even today they do not even understand that what they did is wrong. That is one of our biggest problems. Everyday after the genocide the lesson continues, but when people meet each other face to face they continue to perpetuate the hatred. This despite the biggest lesson we could ever have: the genocide. But many simply won't learn,” he laments.

Does this mean that those who saved lives died in vain? Sula Karuhimbi took the risk to save lives. For all her efforts Sula's family suffered greatly. “They killed my first born; they also killed seven of my sister's children. Let those who want to reconcile do so. As for me I have no part in that. How do I reconcile with someone who wants to kill me?” she asks. Sula is particularly unhappy with the way the justice system has worked since 1994.

“ Why do they release someone who killed others? If you poison someone else does someone say thank you? Does the community thank you and grant you pardon?” she wonders.

Annociata Mukagakwaya was saved by Sula. Today she shares similar concerns with the lady who rescued her especially about genocide suspects. “Look and see, what has the government done? Haven't they freed them, aren't they at home with their children, and their wives? What fairness is there?” she asks.

What galls her most is that most of the people who participated in the attacks are now at home working and supporting their families despite having wiped out the people who would have supported her in her old age.

“I have to support myself. Didn't I have children? Now I live on handouts, I live on people telling me ‘Here is some money, buy some sugar,” she laments bitterly.

Thacien Gatete is more hopeful for the future. He believes survivors must emphasize the positive and try to value the few good things that happened. He says that's where you can find hope and courage to forgive.

“Let me give my example. The man who threw my mother into a latrine pit is free, he has a small business here in Kamembe (Cyangugu province). The one who destroyed the houses I had, he is also out there, free. God gave me people who helped at my time of need. I was not alone, and so I have also decided to let go of what happened and live. That is the true reconciliation,” he says philosophically.

Rakiya acknowledges that it is not always easy to live together after betrayal or violence, and that Rwandans may not always agree on what the future holds.

But she takes comfort in the support some people gave to refugees during the genocide. For her, it provides a picture of how people can live in harmony and build a multi ethnic society. She says if only more people would emulate and acknowledge these examples of courageous compassion, Rwanda's future might be a lot brighter but insists more must be done to publicize such stories.

“If it there is no effort and they are only in one book which is not widely available then I think they are less likely to have an impact,” she admits.

The stories Rwandans tell their children will probably shape the minds and culture of generations to follow. But if children hear only stories of betrayal, brutality and evil, stories of courage, dedication and self-sacrifice might be lost forever. It's important not to let that happen.