UN Tribunal

By Hirondelle News Agency 

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Appeals Court has exhorted Trial Chambers and the Prosecution to ensure that charges against an  accused and the material facts supporting those charges must be pleaded with sufficient  precision in the indictment  so as to avoid any miscarriage of justice or prejudices.

“The prosecution is expected to know its case before proceeding to trial and cannot mould the case against the accused in the course of the trial depending on  how the evidence unfolds,’’ stated Appeal Court President  Fausto Pocar, when delivering an appeals judgement in the case of former Commander of the Non-Commissioned Soldiers (ESO) College, Tharcisse Muvunyi on Friday.

In the ruling, the Appeals Court quashed Muvunyi’s 25-year-sentence imposed by Trial Chamber and ordered a partial retrial of one count.

“Defects in an indictment may come to light during the proceedings because the evidence turns out differently than expected; this calls for the Trial Chamber to consider whether a fair trial requires an amendment of the indictment, an adjournment of proceedings, or the exclusion of evidence outside the scope of the indictment,’’ noted Judge Pocar, in a judgement which was unanimously backed by his four-other bench colleagues.

For example, Muvunyi challenged the Trial Chamber’s ruling in an attack at the Butare University Hospital during the 1994 genocide where between 20 and 30 Tutsis were killed, the Trial Appeal observed that the dates did not collaborate with the event. “…the indictment and the evidence with respect to the dates of the attack reflect a different criminal event than the one for which he was convicted.”

While the Appeals Chamber has previously held that a pre-trial brief can, in certain circumstances, cure a defect in an indictment, the circumstances presented in the Muvunyi instance are different, stated Judge Pocar, explaining that the pre-trial brief and the annexed witness summaries expand the charges “specifically pleaded in the indictment…this does not amount to clear and consistent notice adding specificity to a vague paragraph; rather it is a de facto amendment of the indictment, citing another appeals judgment of Mikaeli Muhimana [ex-Councillor of Gishyita Sector, confirmed imprisonment for life on appeal in 2007] where it determined that a witness summary annexed to a pre-trial brief did not simply add greater detail with more general allegation, materially altered key facets of it.

In the case of Muvunyi, the Appeal Chamber noted that by convicting the suspect for abductions and killings at the Butare University Hospital, the lower court erred in law by expanding the charges against the accused to “encompass unpleaded crimes.”

The ICTR upper court also explained that an aider and abettoir carries out acts specifically directed to assist, encourage or lend moral support to the perpetration of a certain specific crime, which have a substantial effect on the perpetration of the crime.

[ Back ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

[ Home ]

Copyright © 2001 -  2006  Arusha Times.  E-mail: arushatimes@habari.co.tz