MAY 21st,2003 __________________________________________________________________ ICTR/MILITARY 2 GENERAL NDINDLIYIMANA DEMANDS THAT CHARGES AGAINST HIM BE DROPPED Arusha, May 21st, 2003 (FH) - The former chief-of-staff of the Rwandan gendarmerie, Augustin Ndindiliyimana, has demanded that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) order his release and drop all charges brought against him, because of what he calls “policy of selective prosecution” by Carla el Ponte, the ICTR prosecutor. General Ndindiliyimana, 60, was arrested in Belgium on January 29, 2000 and jointly charged with three other officers of the former Rwanda Armed Forces (FAR) in what is known as the “military 2” case. They are charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges. In a press release sent to Hirondelle news agency, Ndindiliyimana's Canadian lawyer, Christopher Black, said that he filed a motion on behalf of his client because they considered that del Ponte abused the process “by which only members of the former Hutu majority regime in Rwanda are targeted for prosecution while Tutsis, belonging to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and its allies, who have committed similar war crimes as those alleged against the Hutus, including genocide, are granted effective immunity from prosecution”. Black explains that even though the prosecutor has conducted investigations into the alleged crimes, by members of the RPF, not one indictment has been brought against any of them. Ndindiliyimana’s lawyer continues that Carla Del Ponte’s policy “has no legitimate criminal justice objective, only a political one... The role of the Prosecutor, currently in breach of her mandate under the statue of the tribunal, should be referred back to the Security Council to seek clarifications of its intentions and provide instructions to the tribunal with respect to all those who committed war crimes in Rwanda during the events of 1994”. In order to keep on course with the tribunal’s mandate that expires in 2008, the prosecutor will put a lid on her investigations in 2004. This has pushed her to drastically alter her programme on the number of investigation she intended to conduct, reducing them from the initial 136 to 14. Ten more investigations are under way. Last year, the prosecutor was severely criticised by Rwanda when she reaffirmed her intentions to pursue some members of the current military, arguing that “a crime is a crime”, adding that she saw no reason why she should not conduct her investigations if they lay within the bounds of the mandate of the Tribunal which covers the whole of 1994. Last November, Del Ponte told British Members of Parliament that Rwanda’s reluctance to cooperate with the ICTR, emanated from those investigations in which, she accused, the Rwandan government was unwilling to render any help whatsoever. Apart from Ndindiliyimana, the second military trial also groups together the former chief-of-staff of the FAR, General Augustin Bizimungu, and two commanding officers in the reconnaissance battalion, Major François Xavier Nzuwonemeye and captain Innocent Sagahutu. The first military trial, currently in progress, groups together four senior officers of the FAR, including the former director of cabinet in the ministry of defence, colonel Theoneste Bagosora. KN/AT/CE/FH (ML'0521A)
NOVEMBER 28th 2000 ICTR/SAGAHUTU FORMER RWANDAN MILITARY OFFICER PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO GENOCIDE Arusha, November 28th, 2000 (FH)- A former Rwandan millitary officer, Captain Innocent Sagahutu, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the independent news agency Hirondelle reports. Sagahutu was second-in-commmand of the reconnaissance battalion (RECCE) within the Rwandan army during the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of some 800,000 Tustis and moderate Hutus. He was also commander of Company A in the same battalion “ Non coupable [not guilty], ” Sagahutu responded calmly in French to each of the 12 counts. He is charged with conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity, including rape, and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions on war crimes. Sagahutu is accused of responsibility in the death of former Rwandan Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and ten Belgian soldiers of UNAMIR, the then UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda. The indictment further alleges that Sagahutu is responsible for the acts of all units of the battalion under his command, over whom he exercised authority. He is jointly accused with his ex-boss, Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and three other former Rwandan army officers who are still on the run. Nzuwonemeye is also in the custody of the ICTR. Prior to the plea, Sagahutu’s Tanzanian duty counsel Bharat Chadha objected to the arrest of his client, saying the arrest warrant was meant for another person. Chadha said Sagahutu was born in 1962, and not 1943 as indicated on the arrest warrant. “If the arrest warrant was meant for a man born in 1943, then I think he’s not the man before you today,” Chadha told Judge Mehmet Güney of Turkey, who was sitting alone on the bench. However, Judge Güney accepted the prosecutor’s argument that the mistaken date of birth on the arrest warrant was a typing error and did not cast doubt on the identity of the accused. Sagahutu was arrested in the Danish town of Ringkjobing on February 15th this year, on an arrest warrant from the ICTR. He was transferred to the ICTR last Friday. GG/JC/FH(SA%1128e)