Attorney challenges Alison Des Forges' claim on purchase of weapons

By Jane Some writing for INTERNEWS

Jean Degli of Togo/France, defense lawyer for one of the four defendants in the "Military Trial" before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), on Tuesday challenged the evidence by Alison Des Forges, the first expert prosecution witness, that the government of Rwanda purchased 20,000 weapons in October 1992.

"Contrary to your report [to the tribunal], 20,000 rifles were not delivered to Rwanda from South Africa," Degli told the witness, citing a Human Rights Watch report that Des Forges quotes in her report.

According to Degli, the report entitled 'Arming Rwanda' details the weapons purchased by the Rwandan government but does not mention the 20,000 R4 automatic weapons allegedly purchased from South Africa in 1992.

Des Forges is testifying against four former senior Rwandan military officers who allegedly masterminded the April-June 1994 genocide that claimed more than 800,000 lives. The four are: Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, 61, Col. Anatole Nsengiyumva, 52, Brigadier-General Gratien Kabiligi, 51, and Major Aloys Ntabakuze, 48. All four have denied charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, crimes they allegedly committed in 1994 in Rwanda.Under cross-examination by Degli, counsel for Kabiligi, Des Forges maintained that military officers distributed thousands of weapons to militiamen, communal police and civilians before the April-June 1994 genocide. Her cross-examination resumed yesterday after the trial was adjourned on 27 September to facilitate the hearing of an alternate trial. Degli also challenged Des Forges' testimony that the military was involved in the arming and training of civilian militia as part of the 'self-defense' program implemented during the genocide. Des Forges is a senior advisor in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. She is an historian specializing in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region.

Degli also questioned Des Forges on claims she makes in a Human Rights Watch publication she authored, 'Leave None to Tell the Story', regarding purchase and distribution of weapons by the government of Rwanda before the genocide. The book details Des Forges' account of the causes and extent of the Rwandan genocide.

Degli submitted an audiotape, which was played in court, relating the events surrounding the killing of Seth Sendashonga, who was a minister in the post-genocide government and who later fled to exile in Kenya. Sendashonga was killed in 1998 in Nairobi. The three people charged with his murder were later acquitted for lack of evidence. However, the tape was not played to the end because prosecution attorney Barbara Mulvaney of the United States protested that the tape was not shown to the witness before being played in court. Des Forges' reacted emotionally to the tape; in a trembling voice, she told the court that Sendashonga was a close friend and that she would need time in order to make rational observations about the footage of the tape. The witness asked for time to watch the tape and compose herself before being asked to comment on it.

The court advised the parties and Des Forges to view the tape first, and the proceedings were adjourned to facilitate this viewing.

The Military Trial is thought to be the highest-profile case before the tribunal because Bagosora allegedly masterminded the genocide. Bagosora assumed 'de facto' of military and political affairs in Rwanda after 6 April 1994. He served as director of cabinet in the ministry of defense during the violence. He was arrested on 9 March 1996 in Cameroon and transferred to the United Nations Detention Facility (UNDF) in Arusha on 23 January 1997.

Nsengiyumva was chief of military intelligence and commander of military operations in Gisenyi Province between 1993 and 1994. Kabiligi served as chief of military operations in the Rwandan army during the genocide. Ntabakuze was commander of the para-commando battalion of the Rwandan army in 1994.

The trial is held before Trial Chamber III of the ICTR, comprising Judges Lloyd Williams of St Kitts and Nevis, Pavel Dolenc of Slovenia and Andresia Vaz of Senegal.

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