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Issue 00536 |
September 20 - 26, 2008 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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UN Tribunal |
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Mayhem after death of president Habyarimana By Hirondelle News Agency A protected witness last week testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that Butare, southern Rwanda, degenerated into spontaneous violence following the assassination of the former President Juvenal Habyarimana whose plane was shot-down by unknown assailants as it was approaching the capital, Kigali on April 6,1994. “After the death [Habyarimana] there were unrests…people abandoned their homes and thugs started looting,’’ claimed witness code-named “Bozan’’. The Rwandan President was returning from a regional peace meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Also killed in the same plane was Burundi’s President, Cyprian Ntaryamira. The 23rd witness was testifying in the defence of Elie Ndayambaje, former Mayor of Muganza Commune, who is jointly accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in the largest and longest trial before the ICTR referred as “Butare Trial”. He further told the three-bench judges that insecurity worsened in the subsequent days. “There were countless killings”, he stressed. Asked by Claver Sindayigaya (Rwanda), co-counsel of the accused, as to how long the killings lasted, the witness responded:” for about a week-and-half”. The witness also said that approximately 500 people attended the swearing-in ceremony of the re-appointed Muganza Mayor, Ndayambaje, on 22 June, 1994 and it was conducted peacefully. “The public that gathered did not carry weapons,’’ he stated. Ndayambaje relinquished his nine-year post towards end of 1992 to pursue further studies. The Examination-in-Chief continued Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, witness “KP” completed his cross examination by Trial Attorney Holo Makwaia (Tanzania). KP claimed that at the height of the Rwandan killings, he fled on his motor-bike towards Burundi via Gitarama. “There was no option…that was the only way open to us [to escape]’’ said the protected witness. Ndayambaje is the sixth and the final defendant in the “Butare Trial”. The trial started in June 2001.All six accused have pleaded not guilty to genocide and crimes against humanity during 1994 killings, which according to UN claimed lives of more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The trial is before Chamber II made up of judges William Sekule of Tanzania (presiding), Arlette Ramaroson (Madagascar) and Solomy Bossa (Uganda).
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