FR | EN | DE | IT
Information, Documentation and Training Agency, Arusha (Tanzania): International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

ICTR - Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, pastor

FEBRUARY 19TH, 2003
_________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

UN TRIBUNAL CONVICTS PASTOR AND SON OF GENOCIDE

Arusha, February 19th, 2003 (FH)- Judges at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesday unanimously pronounced former Seventh day Adventist pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son medical doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana guilty of genocide in connection with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The pastor and son have been sentenced to 10 and 25 years in jail respectively.

“Pastor Ntakirutimana distanced himself from his (ethnic) Tutsi pastors and flock in their hour of need”, presiding judge, Erik Møse of Norway concluded after the judgement. As for Gerard Ntakirutimana, 45, the judge said that “as a medical doctor, he took lives instead of saving them”. Pastor Ntakirutimana, 78, is the first clergyman to be convicted of genocide by an international tribunal. The pastor and son, seating next to each other, remained expressionless as the judgement and the sentence were read out.

Pastor Ntakirutimana, was the president of the west Rwanda Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) area at the time of the genocide. He was based at Mugonero SDA complex in Kibuye province. His son, Gerard Ntakirutimana, 45, was a doctor at the SDA hospital in the complex. The two are mainly accused of luring ethnic Tutsi refugees into Mugonero SDA complex before bringing in militias to kill them. They are also accused of participating in the pursuit and killings of Tutsis in the Bisesero hills in Kibuye. The refugees were fleeing from extremist Hutu militias. The trial began in September 2001 and closed in August 2002.

The chamber found the pastor and his son guilty of conveying armed attackers to Mugonero complex where unarmed predominantly Tutsi men, women and children had taken refugee. The judges further ruled that there was sufficient evidence that Gerard Ntakirutimana participated in the attacks that led to deaths of hundreds or thousands of refugees. They were found guilty of participating in the attacks on Bisesero hills. However, the two have been acquitted of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The chamber also said that in its sentence, it had taken into account the fact that the two had been people of good conduct prior to the genocide.

“This is a victory for the victims of Mugonero and Bisesero”, lead prosecutor for the Ntakirutimana trial, Charles Phillips told Hirondelle shortly after the sentencing.

Judgements and sentences passed by the ICTR can be appealed in its appeals chamber. ICTR convicts serve their sentences in Mali. Swaziland and Benin have also accepted to host ICTR convicts. The period already spent in detention by pastor Ntakirutimana and his son will be deducted from their sentence.

The trial, one of the fastest in ICTR history, was before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Erik Møse of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa, and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/CE/FH (NT’0219e)


FEBRUARY 19TH, 2003
_________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR AND SON TO APPEAL GENOCIDE CONVICTION

Arusha, February 19th, 2003 (FH) - Lawyers of former Seventh day Adventist pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son, Gerard Ntakirutimana a medical doctor, announced on Wednesday that they were going to appeal a judgement by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) convicting the two of genocide. The pastor and his son were found guilty of genocide earlier on Wednesday and sentenced to 10 and 25 years in jail respectively.

“It is a tragic miscarriage of justice”, defence counsel for Pastor Ntakirutimana, former US Attorney General, Ramsey Clark told reporters shortly after the judgement was read. Reiterating his previous arguments, he said that the trial had been executed in a “biased environment strongly influenced by the government of Rwanda”. Judges of the ICTR however dismissed the argument during their judgement saying that there was no evidence that “the two accused were subject to a campaign of false incrimination”.

Defence counsel for Gerard Ntakirutimana, David Jacobs of Canada echoed the remarks of Ramsey Clark. Furthermore, he said that he was convinced that both the pastor and his son were innocent. “We are hopeful that the appeals chamber will recognise the great miscarriage of justice that occurred today”, he added.

Pastor Ntakirutimana, 78, was the president of the West Rwanda Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) area at the time of the genocide. He was based at Mugonero SDA complex in Kibuye province. His son, Doctor Ntakirutimana, 45, was a doctor at the SDA hospital in the complex.

The two were found guilty of conveying attackers to Mugonero complex to kill hundreds of predominantly ethnic Tutsi men, women and children who had taken refugee in the complex. The refugees were fleeing from attacks by extremist Hutu militias. Doctor Ntakirutimana was also found guilty of at least two murders and direct participation in several attacks in the Bisesero area in Kibuye. The trial began in September 2001 and closed in August 2002.

In their conclusion, judges of Trial Chamber One of the ICTR noted that the pastor “distanced himself from his Tutsi pastors and his flock in the hour of their need” whereas his son, “as a medical doctor, took lives instead of saving them”. At the beginning of the defence case, Pastor Ntakirutimana’s lawyer said that the pastor was a man given to “saving souls” whereas his son was dedicated to “saving lives”.

ICTR convicts serve their sentences in Mali. Swaziland and Benin have also accepted to host ICTR convicts. The period already spent in detention by pastor Ntakirutimana and his son will be deducted from their sentence.

The trial, one of the fastest in ICTR history, was before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Erik Møse of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa, and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/CE/FH (NT’0219f)

FEBRUARY 17TH, 2003
_________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR AND SON GENOCIDE TRIAL NEARS FINALE

Arusha, February 17th, 2003 (FH) The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will on Wednesday , February 19th, 2003 deliver its ninth judgement since it started trials in 1997. The judgement is expected to shed light on what Seventh day Adventist pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son, medical doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana did or didn’t do during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Pastor Ntakirutimana, 78, was the president of the west Rwanda Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) area. He was based at Mugonero SDA complex in Kibuye province. His son, Gerard Ntakirutimana, 45, was a doctor at the SDA hospital in the complex.

Notable among charges against Pastor Ntakirutimana and his son is the April 16th, 1994 killing of an estimated 6,000 ethnic Tutsis that had taken refugee at Mugonero complex. The refugees were fleeing from attacks by extremist Hutu militias.

The refugees, says the prosecution, had taken refugee at the complex on the invitation of Pastor Ntakirutimana. According to the indictment, a few days after the refugees had gathered at the complex, the pastor and his son mobilised, transported and led to the complex, a convoy of “members of the national gendarmerie, communal police, militia and civilians”. Prosecution witnesses have testified that as soon as the convoy arrived at the complex, its members immediately began attacking the men, women and children at the complex.

The defence have dismissed all the allegations against the pastor and son as “baseless and illogical”. At the start of the trial, defence counsel for pastor Ntakirutimana, former US Attorney General, Ramsey Clark said that the pastor had always been "involved in saving souls, just as Gerard Ntakirutimana was involved in saving lives".

The April 15th, 1994 letter

The evening before the attack on Mugonero complex, a group of refugees in the complex composed of six pastors and a teacher wrote a letter to pastor Ntakirutimana. The letter, saluting the pastor as "our dear leader", in part reads: "We would like to inform you that tomorrow we will die with our families. We are requesting you to intervene on our behalf and contact the mayor". The letter concludes saying: "Your intervention will be highly appreciated in the same way Jews were saved by Ester."

Pastor Ntakirutimana has acknowledged receipt of the letter. “This letter shattered me", the pastor said in his testimony. "I didn't know how to conduct myself", he added. Pastor Ntakirutimana told the court that early in the morning of April 16th, 1994, he had, in the company of Gerard, gone to see the mayor who told them that he couldn't do anything to help. "I then came back home and wrote a letter explaining what had happened and telling them that 'you pastors have not sinned against God and you are in his hands’". He sent the response through the gendarmes that had brought the letter from the pastor.


After sending the response to the refugees, testified the pastor, “we immediately organised to flee Mugonero”. The pastor said that he, with his wife and the family of Gerard Ntakirutimana, fled to Gishyita before the start of the attacks. Both the pastor and his son said they hadn’t returned to Mugonero on April 16th. Prosecution witnesses have testified that the signatories to the letter asking for the pastor’s assistance were aware of the power he had over what was going on. They say that instead of helping, the pastor organised an attack. The defence have denied prosecution allegations that the Ntakirutimanas were powerful citizens in Mugonero who had the authority to stop or reduce significantly the killings in the area.

The prosecution says that survivors of the Mugonero attack fled, among other places, to the Bisesero hills.

Attacks on Bisesero hills

The pastor and his son have also been accused of leading gangs of militias across Bisesero hills searching for and killing Tutsis refugees fleeing from attacks on various parts of Kibuye province.

The pastor has denied ever going to Bisesero hills during this period. His son too denies participating in the attacks and says that he never went to the area save for one occasion for which he told court that he had been forced by soldiers to go and transport their wounded colleagues.

Furthermore, the pastor has denied prosecution witnesses’ accounts that he ordered the demolition of the roof of a church in Bisesero area that had been sheltering Tutsi refugees. The reason behind this action, said the witnesses, was to “expose the refugees to rain and sunshine”. According to the prosecution, the pastor, in the company of Gerard, presided over the destruction of the church roof.

Discriminating against Tutsis

The pastor and his son have rejected allegations that they had always discriminated against ethnic Tutsis.

In his testimony, Gerard Ntakirutimana refuted prosecution allegations that he had mistreated and finally abandoned injured ethnic Tutsi refugees seeking for medical attention at Mugonero hospital in the run up to the attack on the complex.

“I would never do such a thing”, said the doctor. “I did my best at a period when other doctors at the hospital had fled. (…) I also eventually fled when we were told by the gendarmes guarding the complex that they would no longer guarantee our security”, he added.

Moreover, he denied allegations that he had disconnected water supply to Mugonero complex during the stay of the Tutsi refugees.

Pastor Ntakirutimana also testified that he never harboured any hatred for Tutsis. He said that he had worked with many Tutsis and maintained many Tutsi friends. His lawyer, Ramsey Clark, described him as a pacifist who couldn’t even “wring the neck of a chicken”.

This trial has been one of the fastest in the history of the tribunal. It began in September 2001 and closed in August 2002. It is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Erik Møse of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

Gerard Ntakirutimana is represented by David Jacobs of Canada. The prosecution in this case is led by Charles Adeogun-Phillips of Nigeria and the UK, Wallace Kapaya of Tanzania and Boi-Tia Stevens of the United States.

Pastor Ntakirutimana was the first clergyman to be indicted by the ICTR. He was arrested in Texas, USA, on September 29th, 1996. The pastor was transferred to the ICTR on March 24th, 2000 after loosing a protracted legal battle against his extradition. A month after, his son was arrested in Ivory Coast. He was transferred to the ICTR in November that year.
GG/FH (NT’0217e)


FEBRUARY 13TH, 2003
_________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR AND SON JUDGMENT IN GENOCIDE TRIAL SET FOR FEBRUARY 19TH

Arusha, February 13th, 2003 (FH) The judgment in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son, medical doctor, Gerald Ntakirutimana will be delivered at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesday February 19th, reports the independent news agency Hirondelle.

Pastor Ntakirutimana, 78, was the president of the west Rwanda Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) area. He was based at Mugonero SDA complex in Kibuye province. His son, Gerard Ntakirutimana, 45, was a doctor at the SDA hospital in the complex. The two are mainly accused of luring ethnic Tutsi refugees into Mugonero SDA complex before bringing in militias to kill them. They are also accused of participating in the pursuit and killings of Tutsis in the Bisesero hills in Kibuye. The trial began in September 2001 and closed in August 2002.

Pastor Ntakirutimana was the first clergyman to be indicted by the ICTR. Five other clergy men have since been indicted and arrested. Anglican Bishop Samuel Musabyimana died in detention last month.
Pastor Ntakirutimana was arrested in Texas, USA, on September 29th, 1996. He was transferred to the ICTR on March 24th, 2000 after loosing a protracted legal battle against his extradition. A month after Pastor Ntakirutimana’s arrest, his son was arrested in Ivory Coast. He was transferred to the ICTR two days later. Both pleaded not guilty to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The judgement will be the ninth passed by the ICTR since its inception in 1994.

The prosecution in this case is led by Charles Adeogun-Phillips of Nigeria and the UK, Wallace Kapaya of Tanzania and Boi-Tia Stevens of the United States. Pastor Ntakirutimana and his son are represented by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and David Jacobs of Canada respectively.

The trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa, presiding, Erik Møse of Norway and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH (NT’0213e)

JANUARY 31st, 2003
__________________________________________________________________
ICTR/MEDIA/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

CHAMBER ONE RETIRES TO DELIBERATE ON PASTOR AND SON JUDGEMENT

Arusha, January 31st, 2003 (FH) - Trial Chamber One of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday retired for a one month recess to deliberate on the judgement in the trial of Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana.

Pastor Ntakirutimana, 78 was the president of the West Rwanda Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) area. He was based at Mugonero in Kibuye province. His son Gerard Ntakirutimana, 45 was a doctor at the SDA hospital in Mugonero. The two are mainly accused of luring ethnic Tutsi refugees into Mugonero SDA church and hospital complex before bringing in militias to kill them. The trial began in September 2001 and closed in August 2002.

Prior to adjourning, the chamber had been hearing the so-called ‘media trial’. The trial groups three former media personalities accused of using the media in Rwanda to fuel anti-Tutsi sentiments and killings before and during the 1994 genocide. They are; founder member of Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), Ferdinand Nahimana and politician and RTLM board member, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza and owner and editor of alleged extremist newspaper, Kangura, Hassan Ngeze. He is jointly on trial with two others in what has been called the 'media trial'.

This trial will resume on March 3rd, 2003. It adjourned after two weeks in session during which 11 witnesses testified for Ngeze. This trial began in October 2000.

Before the resumption of the media trial, Chamber One will on February 27th and 28th hear the closing arguments in the genocide trial of former Rwandan minister of information, Eliézer Niyitegeka. This trial began in June 2002.

Trial Chamber One is composed of Judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka.
GG/CE/FH(ME’0131e)

AUGUST 21st, 2002
______________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

PROSECUTION CLOSES CASE IN PASTOR AND SON TRIAL

Arusha, August 21st, 2002 (FH) - The prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda(ICTR) on Wednesday made its final arguments in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist Pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son, Gérald Ntakirutimana. Pastor Ntakirutimana is the first clergyman to be tried for genocide by an International Tribunal.

The prosecution wrapped up and commented on the testimony of its witnesses as they shredded that of defence witnesses.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald Ntakirutimana, 44, was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two "summoned" persecuted Tutsis to take refugee at Mugonero complex before bringing in soldiers and militias to kill them. The attack took place on April 16th, 1994. They also allegedly participated in killings of Tutsi refugees in nearby Bisesero hills.

The defence case, among other arguments, contends that the two left Mugonero complex early in the morning of April 16th, 1994, before the attack. Defence witnesses have testified that the two did not return to the complex on that day. The prosecution agrees that they left Mugonero for Gishyita but says that they came back among attackers on that day. Prosecutor Charles Phillips of Nigeria and the UK told the court that this was especially possible since, according to him, Gishyita was only five kilometers away from Mugonero.

The defence will make its closing arguments on Thursday. The chamber will then retreat to deliberate on the judgement. If found guilty, the two would face up to life imprisonment.

Their trial began on September 18th, 2001. It adjourned several times to give way for other hearings taking place in the same chamber. The last time it adjourned was May, after the defence finished presenting its witnesses.

Pastor Ntakirutimana was arrested in Texas, USA, in 1996. Doctor Ntakirutimana was arrested in Ivory coast in 1996. Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and David Jacobs of Canada are lawyers for Pastor Ntakirutimana and Doctor Ntakirutimana respectively. The prosecution team composed of Charles Philips-Adeogun of Nigeria and the UK, Wallace Kapaya of Tanzania and Boi-Tia Stevens of the US.

This trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH(NK-0821e)


JULY 12th, 2002
______________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

PASTOR AND SON GENOCIDE TRIAL CLOSES ON AUGUST 22ND

Arusha, July 12th, 2002 (FH) - Prosecution and defence in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, and his son medical doctor, Gerard Ntakirutimana, will submit their closing arguments before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on August 21st and 22nd.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald Ntakirutimana, 44, was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two lured persecuted Tutsis to take refugee at Mugonero complex before bringing in soldiers and militias to kill them. They also allegedly participated in killings of Tutsi refugees in nearby Bisesero hills.

The prosecution estimates that 6,000 Tutsis were killed in the attack on Mugonero complex. An estimated one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda. The Ntakirutimanas are charged with several counts of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Their trial began on September 18th, 2001. It adjourned several times to give way for other hearings taking place in the same chamber. The last time it adjourned was May, after the defence finished presenting its witnesses.

Pastor Ntakirutimana is the first of five clergymen detained by the ICTR to go on trial. He was arrested in 1996 in Texas, USA.

Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and David Jacobs of Canada are lawyers for Pastor Ntakirutimana and Doctor Ntakirutimana respectively.
The prosecution team composed of Charles Philips-Adeogun of Nigeria and the UK, Wallace Kapaya of Tanzania and Boi-Tia Stevens of the US.

This trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/DO/FH(NK-0712e)

MAY 10TH 2002
________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

I NEVER ABANDONED ETHNIC TUTSI PATIENTS, SAYS ACCUSED DOCTOR

Arusha, May 10th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and medical doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Friday that contrary to prosecution allegations, he never abandoned ethnic Tutsi patients during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

"I left the hospital because I had been told by security officers that our security could no longer be guaranteed", said Gerard Ntakirutimana.

Gerard Ntakirutimana, 44 has since Wednesday been testifying in his own defence. He is jointly on trial with his father, Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, and 78.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerard Ntakirutimana, was a medical doctor at the hospital which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two lured persecuted Tutsis to take refugee at Mugonero before bringing in militias and soldiers to kill the refugees. According to estimates by the prosecution, 6,000 Tutsis refugees were killed at Mugonero on April 16th, 2002. The prosecution also alleges that Gerard Ntakirutimana abandoned Tutsi refugees at hospital. An estimated 1,000,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Gerard told the court that he had never been racist in all his life. "All those who needed my service I would help them. I would handle them as best as I could", said Gerard Ntakirutimana.

The prosecution also alleges that Gerard Ntakirutimana participated in the killings of Tutsi refugees in the Bisesero hills during the genocide.

Gerard said he had only been to Bisesero hills during the genocide once. "This is a time I was ordered by soldiers to drive them to Bisesero hills", he said. Gerard said he had driven the soldiers to the hills, stayed in the car as the soldiers brought a corpse in into the car and then drove to Kibuye military camp. "They removed the corpse and I was then freed," he said. He denied allegations that he had participated in the attacks on Bisesero or transported any attackers to that area.

The Ntakirutimanas say they fled Mugonero complex for Gishyita a few hours before the April 16th, 1994 attack. Prosecutor Charles Phillips suggested that Gerard had "only set base at Gishyita for a week in which you (Gerard) kept going back and forth to Mugonero".

The trial is being held in Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal. Closing arguments will be heard mid july.

GG/FH(NT-0510e)


MAY 8TH, 2002
________________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

DOCTOR TESTIFIES IN HIS OWN GENOCIDE TRIAL.

Arusha, May 8th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and medical doctor, Gerard Ntakirutimana, began testifying in his own defence at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesday. Gerard began his testimony shortly after his father and co-accused, Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana concluded his testimony.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78 was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald Ntakirutimana, 44 was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two lured persecuted Tutsis to take refugee at Mugonero time before bringing in militias to kill them. The prosecution estimates that 6,000 Tutsis were killed in the attack on Mugonero complex. An estimated one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Defence counsel for Gerard Ntakirutimana David Jacobs of Canada dwelt on questions regarding Gerard Ntakirutimana's life prior to the genocide. "We want to show the court that with the shape of life that he lived, he could not have committed the crimes alleged by the prosecution", Jacobs told the court.

Gerard Ntakirutimana will continue his testimony on Thursday morning.

Earlier on, pastor Ntakirutimana reiterated that he "did not participate in any of the acts. Not at all". Asked by judge Naventhem Pillay what he thought of some of his former church folk, "followers of God like you(him)" that have testified against him, pastor Ntakirutimana said that they were liars. "Even among Jesus' disciples, Judas betrayed his master", said pastor Ntakirutimana.

This trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH(NT-0507e)

MAY 7th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

I CAN'T EVEN KILL A CHICKEN, SAYS ACCUSED PASTOR

Arusha, May 7th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana on Tuesday denied before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) all allegations that he participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Pastor Ntakirutimana has since Monday been testifying in his and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana's defence.

"I can't even kill a chicken", said the 78-year-old pastor who is jointly on trial with his son Gerard Ntakirutimana. "I have always respected God's law. God is my witness", he added.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78 was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald Ntakirutimana, 45 was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 6,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex during the genocide. An estimated 1,000,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Pastor Ntakirutimana told the court that he hadn't had the means to protect Tutsi refugees at Mugonero complex. He said that he had himself fled Mugonero early in the morning of April 16th, 1994 after realising that the area wasn't safe. The killings in Mugonero took place on April 16th, 1994. Pastor Ntakirutimana said he only came back to Mugonero about two weeks after the killings.

The court has received a copy of a letter written by six Tutsi Seventh Day Adventist pastors the night before the killings in Mugonero requesting Pastor Ntakirutimana to intervene and speak to the mayor to save their lives. Asked by defence counsel Ramsey Clark of the US whether, on his return to Mugonero two weeks after the killings, he and his church had tried to find out what had happened to the six pastors and other members of the church, Pastor Ntakirutimana responded; "I found that in my church, the mother church, there were very few people. I was told that there were also very few people in the other church"


Prosecutor Charles Phillips of Nigeria and the UK told the court that pastor Ntakirutimana wasn't in any danger and should have at least sheltered a few Tutsi colleagues. "Kajongi was your treasurer, why didn't you at least hide him and his wife in your house", Phillips asked pastor Ntakirutimana. "It was his(Kajongi) duty to tell me that they were coming to my place", said pastor Ntakirutimana. "I wouldn't have chased him", he added.

The court said on Tuesday it was going to deliberate on a motion filed by the defence to have a defence witness that testified last week relocated to another country. Clark told the court that following the prosecutor's allegation that the witness was a fugitive from justice in Rwanda wanted for genocide and multiple rapes, the witness would be in danger if he returned to his country of residence. Clark suggested that despite the fact that the witness was a protected witness whose identity was hidden from the public, people from where the witness came from knew about his coming to testify and also heard reports of the criminal allegations leveled against him last week.

The witness was due to be returned to his country of residence on Wednesday.

Pastor Ntakirutimana will continue to testify on Wednesday before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH(NK-0507e)


MAY 06TH 2002
________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR TESTIFIES IN HIS GENOCIDE TRIAL

Arusha, May 6th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana testified in his and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana's defence at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78 was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. He is jointly charged with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana, 45. Gerard was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 6,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex on April 16th, 2002. An estimated 1,000,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Asked about his reaction to a letter requesting for help addressed to him by Tutsi refugees at Mugonero complex, Pastor Ntakirutimana broke to tears. "This letter shattered me", he said. "I didn't know how to conduct myself", he added. The letter signed by six Tutsi pastors and a teacher was written the evening before the killings at Mugonero complex.

The letter saluting pastor Ntakirutimana as "our dear leader" in part reads: "We would like to inform you that tomorrow we will die with our families. We are requesting you to intervene on our behalf and contact the mayor". The letter concludes saying: "Your intervention will be highly appreciated in the same way Jews were saved by Ester."

The prosecution claims Pastor Ntakirutimana responded saying that it was time for the Tutsis to die. The prosecution alleges that Pastor Ntakirutimana brought in militias and soldiers to kill the refugees.

Pastor Ntakirutimana told the court that he had, in the company of Gerard, gone to see the mayor who told them that he couldn't do anything to help. "I then came back home and wrote a letter explaining what had happened and telling them that 'you pastors have not sinned against God and you are in his hands"

Pastor Ntakirutimana said that he knew all of the signatories of the letter. He said he had taught some of them in school and had been taught by some.

Gerard Ntakirutimana is also scheduled to testify. Pastor Ntakirutimana will continue his testimony on Tuesday before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH(NT-0506e)



APRIL 29TH, 2002
___________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

SURVIVORS' GROUP TRAINED GENOCIDE WITNESSES, SAYS DEFENCE WITNESS

Arusha, April 29th, 2002 (FH) - A group of genocide survivors trained and encouraged people to falsely testify against "people they were not happy with", a defence witness in the genocide trial of Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday. "A friend of mine was beaten because he refused to testify against Gerard Ntakirutimana", said the protected witness only identified as "Witness number nine".

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. He is jointly charged with his son Gerard Ntakirutimana, 45. Gerard was a medical doctor at the infirmary, which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 6,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex during the genocide. An estimated 1,000,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Witness number nine said he had fled Rwanda in 1995 after learning of the incidence involving his friend. "A soldier advised us to flee", he said.

The witness further testified that he had attended public meetings in which local government authorities called for people to testify against others. "Lists of people to be accused were drawn up in the meetings", he said. The meetings, said the witness, took place in Kibuye shortly after the end of the genocide in 1994 and 1995.

The witness also said that some officials from Kigali, Rwanda's capital city came to Kibuye to hold secret meetings with certain genocide survivors. "After drinking beer, participants in these meetings threatened us and told us about their plans", said the witness. Among the attendants of the alleged meetings, the witness mentioned former IBUKA (genocide survivors' organization) executive, Josue Kayijaho, and his brother and founder member of IBUKA, Assiel Kabera. Kabera was then prefect of Kibuye region.

On one occasion, said witness number nine, a drunk man had told him that "if you don't give me money, I will do to you what I'm going to do to the old man". The witness said he understood "the old man" to be pastor Ntakirutimana.

Defence counsels of the Ntakirutimanas said at the opening of the trial that there was a witness syndicate run by IBUKA aimed at falsely accusing ethnic Hutus of genocide crimes.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH(NT-0429e)



APRIL 22nd, 2002
________________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR AND SON WERE NEVER INVOLVED IN POLITICS, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, April 22nd, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana were never involved in any political activities before and during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a defence witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday.

"Politics was taboo to him", the protected witness only identified as "Witness 23" said of Pastor Ntakirutimana. "Gerard was also never involved in politics", he added.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78 was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. He is jointly charged with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana, 45. Gerard was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 6,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex during the genocide. An estimated 1,000,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Witness 23 also said that, during the genocide, pastor Ntakirutimana had been so emotionally affected by the killings that "he lost a great deal of weight and you could see that he was grieved". The prosecution alleges that pastor Ntakirutimana drove around in his car during the genocide transporting militias and soldiers to Tutsi hideouts.

The witness further said that the Ntakirutimanas had never been to Bisesero hills, site to killings of Tutsi refugees. The prosecution contends that the Ntakirutimanas actively participated in the killings of Tutsis in Bisesero hills.

Witness 23 continues his testimony on Tuesday before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH(NK-0412e)


APRIL 17TH, 2002
________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR AND SON NEVER LURED REFUGEES TO ILL-FATED COMPLEX, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, April 17th, 2002 (FH) - Seventh Day Adventist Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana never invited ethnic Tutsi refugees to take refugee in a church complex from where they were to be killed, a witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two are jointly on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerard, 45, was a medical doctor at the infirmary, which lay in the same complex.

The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 6,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex during the genocide. An estimated one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

"The refugees came on their own volition", said the fourteenth defence witness only identified as "Witness 31" to protect his identity. The prosecution alleges that the Ntakirutimanas lured Tutsis fleeing from killings into Mugonero complex and later brought in militias and soldiers to kill them. Witness 31 told the court that he had been a nurse at Mugonero hospital.

The witness further said that on April 16th, 1994, the day that the killings at Mugonero complex took place, Pastor Ntakirutimana and his son had taken refugee in nearby Gishyita commune. "They never left the Gishyita commune offices that day", said the witness.

Witness 31 also said that Doctor Ntakirutimana had never discriminated against Tutsi patients or said "anything that would indicate discrimination against people of Tutsi origin". The prosecution says that Doctor Ntakirutimana refused to treat and sent away Tutsi refugees that had been wounded from militia attacks.

This trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

The trial was adjourned until next Monday, because the next witnesses were not available for the time being.

GG/FH(NT-0417e)

APRIL 15th, 2002
________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR FALSELY ACCUSED, SAYS EX-CHURCH LEADER

Arusha, April 15th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is loyal to God and must have been falsely accused, an American ex-Adventist leader told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on Monday.

Pastor Merle Mills was president of the Seventh Day Adventist Trans-Africa division between 1964 and 1980. The area covers most of Africa south of the equator including Rwanda. "The man was held in high esteem and he did his job well", said Mills.

Mills however conceded under cross-examination by the prosecution that he had not seen Ntakirutimana in the last 14 years and therefore couldn't testify about his (Pastor Ntakirutimana) life over that period. He said he had last seen him in 1980.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 77, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. He is jointly charged with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana, 44. Gerard was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The prosecutor, among other accusations, alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 6,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex during the genocide. An estimated one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Mills also presented to court letters that he said he had obtained from other former Seventh Day Adventist leaders that knew Pastor Ntakirutimana. "None of these people said anything negative about Ntakirutimana", Mills said of the authors of the letters.

Mills also told the court that the Seventh Day Adventist church prohibited its leaders from involving themselves in politics. "The Seventh Day Adventist church believes in separation of the church and the state," he said. He also said that discrimination of any kind was unacceptable in the church. The prosecution alleges that the Seventh Day Adventist church in Rwanda supported the state in discriminating against minority Tutsis and later on carrying out the genocide.

Earlier on Monday, a protected defence witness started and finished her entire testimony in closed session. She was only referred to as "Witness No.31".

This trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/FH(NK-0410e)

APRIL 11th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

DOCTOR'S WIFE DEFENDS HIM IN GENOCIDE TRIAL

Arusha, April 11th, 2002 (FH) - The wife of genocide suspect Doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday that her husband did not participate in militia attacks on ethnic Tutsis and never sent away wounded ethnic Tutsis during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Anna Nzabumunyurwa also denied all allegations against her father-in-law Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana who is jointly on trial with Doctor Ntakirutimana.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Gerard Ntakirutimana, 44, was a medical doctor at the infirmary of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye province, western Rwanda. He is jointly charged with his father Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 77, who was pastor at the church.

The prosecutor alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 6,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex during the genocide. An estimated one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official report by the government of Rwanda.

Nzabumunyurwa also denied prosecution allegations that her husband and her father-in-law invited Tutsis to take refuge in Mugonero complex before bringing in militias to kill them. She said Pastor Ntakirutimana and his son had taken refuge themselves in near by Gishyita commune at the time of the massacres on April 16th, 1994.

Nzabumunyurwa will continue her testimony on Monday before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JA/FH(NK-0412e)

APRIL 10TH, 2002
________________________________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

PASTOR'S WIFE DEFENDS HIM IN GENOCIDE TRIAL

Arusha, April 10th, 2002 (FH) - The wife of Seventh Day Adventist pastor and genocide suspect Elizaphan Ntakirutimana told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesday that her husband and her son Gerard, who jointly charged with his father, "never in any way" participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

"Did you ever see or hear of Pastor or Gerard carrying weapons of any sort?" asked Pastor Ntakirutimana's defence counsel, Ramsey Clark of the US. " No, never", answered Mrs. Ntakirutimana.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana , 77 was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye province western Rwanda. He is jointly charged with his son Gerard Ntakirutimana, 44. Gerard was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same church complex. The prosecutor alleges that the two planned and presided over killings of about 5,000 Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex during the genocide. An estimated 1 million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide according to an official survey by the government of Rwanda.

The trial of the Ntakirutimanas reopened on Wednesday after it was adjourned in mid February to give room to another trial taking place alternately in the same chamber.

Dressed in a navy blue suit and a white top, the calm but some times nervous looking lady told the court that her whole family had left Mugonero to take refuge in Gishyita commune very early in the morning on April 16th, 1994. The prosecutor says that the killings in Mugonero complex took place on April 16th, 1994.

Mrs. Ntakirutimana said that her husband, between the shooting down of President Juvénal Habyarimana's plane on April 6th that sparked off the genocide, and their fleeing to Gishyita, "went on with his routine office work". She denied prosecution allegations that her husband and son had been involved in militia activities during that period.

Mrs. Ntakirutimana continues to testify before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/JA/FH(NK-0410e)


FEBRUARY 15th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

I NEVER SAW PASTOR OR HIS SON WITH A GUN, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, February 15th, 2002 (FH) - A defence witness in the genocide trial of Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Friday that he had never seen either of the two accused with a gun. The trial was later adjourned to April to make room for another trial alternating with the Ntakirutimanas' in the same chamber.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan, 77, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. He is jointly charged with his son Gerard Ntakirutimana, 44. Gerard was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex.

Several prosecution witnesses had testified that the pastor and his son shot and killed Tutsi refugees during the April 16th 1994 attack on Mugonero hospital. Prosecution says that some 6,000 people died in that attack.

"I have never, never in all my life seen Pastor Ntakirutimana or Gerard carrying anything that can be described as a weapon," said the defence
witness, identified only as "Witness Number Twenty-five" to shield his identity.

The witness also testified that he had seen Pastor Ntakirutimana and Gerard in Gishyita commune on April 16th 1994. The prosecution holds that the Ntakirutimanas led an attack on Tutsi refugees at Mugonero hospital on that date. The defence says the Ntakirutimanas had themselves taken refuge at nearby Gishyita commune offices at the time of the alleged massacres.

Most of the nine witnesses heard so far have testified that the Ntakirutimanas were in Gishyita on April 16th. The defence is scheduled to bring 23 more witnesses.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/FH (NK-0215e)
FEBRUARY 12th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

DOCTOR NEVER DISCRIMINATED AGAINST TUTSI PATIENTS, WITNESS SAYS

Arusha, February 12th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and medical doctor Gerald Ntakirutimana did not at any time discriminate against Tutsi patients and refugees that were at Mugonero hospital during the 1994 genocide, a defence witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday.

The prosecution has accused Doctor Ntakirutimana of discriminating against Tutsi patients and refugees, and later bringing militias to kill them.

Gerald Ntakirutimana is on joint trial with his father, Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye, western Rwanda. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Asked by Gerald's lawyer whether she had ever seen or heard Gerald discriminate against Tutsi patients or refugees, the protected witness replied: " No. I never saw such a thing. "I never heard anyone mention such a thing." Gerald Ntakirutimana is defended by David Jacobs of the US. The witness is dubbed simply Witness Number Seven, to protect her identity.

Prosecution witnesses have testified that during the days leading up to April16th, 2002, Hutu patients at Mugonero hospital were all discharged whereas Tutsi patients were forced to stay at the hospital and were later killed. Prosecution witnesses have also testified that despite having all necessary equipment, Gerald refused to treat Tutsi refugees fleeing from militia attacks in the Mugonero area.

Witness Number Seven told the court that Gerald had, before fleeing the war, continued treating all patients at the hospital, regardless of their ethnicity. She is the fifth defence witness in this trial.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/FH(NK-0212e)


FEBRUARY 11th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

CHURCH DIDN'T PARTICIPATE IN RWANDA GENOCIDE, PRIEST TESTIFIES

Arusha, February 11th, 2002 (FH) - The church in Rwanda never participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda as alleged by the prosecution, a Belgian priest told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday.

Catholic Father Serge Desouter was testifying for the defence in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan, 77, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye, western Rwanda. Gerald, 44, was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

"I'm shocked by such information," Desouter said of a report by prosecution expert witness, Hugh McCullum. McCullum is a Canadian journalist and author of a book on the Rwandan genocide entitled "The Angels have left us: The role of the church in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda". He testified late last year that the Rwandan church and its leaders had been aware of what was going on during the genocide and had assisted in the organization and carrying out of massacres.

"Instead", Desouter told the court, "the church continued to give assistance to the people in the difficult times, even though the church herself had been wounded by the war". Desouter worked in Rwanda between 1968 and 1986 for the Catholic Church and other organizations.

Under questioning by judge Erik Mose of Norway, Desouter admitted that he knew nothing about the Ntakirutimanas or the Seventh Day Adventist church and its relationship, if any, with the political authorities before, during, and after the genocide.

Desouter further testified that besides not participating in the genocide, the church did not have the capacity to stop the genocide. "The international community through UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda) failed," said Desouter. "How would the priests and the brave church leaders have managed ?" he asked. "Could they have done it with the Bible, when they were confronted with gangs of youths who wanted to destroy everything in their paths ?"

Desouter declined to label the 1994 killings in Rwanda a genocide. He also said he wasn't aware of any "ideological" planning of a genocide in Rwanda. Under cross-examination by the prosecution, Desouter conceded that he had co-authored a book in which he referred to "a genocide" in Rwanda. He maintained, however, that he could not use the word "genocide" in his testimony, as it was a disputed matter before the court.

Concluding his testimony, Father Desouter said that he believed the church, and not "any other group or political philosophy", was capable of reconciling Rwandans.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/JC/FH (NK-0211e)

FEBRUARY 7th, 2001
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

PASTOR WAS ABSENT ON DAY OF CHURCH KILLINGS, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, February 7th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana left Mugonero church complex early in the morning of April 16th 1994, hours before killings at the complex started, a defence witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday. This protected witness is the first alibi witness in the case.

At the time of the 1994 genocide Elizaphan, 77, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye, western Rwanda. He is jointly charged with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana, 44. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary, which lay in the same complex.

The Ntakirutimanas are accused of luring Tutsis to their complex with the promise of safety, then bringing militias and soldiers to kill them. According to prosecution, an estimated 5,000 Tutsis were killed in the complex. Several prosecution witnesses have testified that the killings there started between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time on April 16th, 1994.

"We left Mugonero with the pastor and Gerald between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. on April 16th," said the witness, dubbed only "Witness Number Four" to shield his identity. The witness said he was a Hutu whose father had worked at Mugonero church as a pastor.

Witness Number Four said that he and Pastor Ntakirutimana's family had fled to nearby Gishyita, because of increased insecurity. He said they returned
to Mugonero about two weeks later. The witness said that during his stay at Gishyita commune offices with the Ntakirutimanas, the pastor had not left the commune compound.

The witness told the court that on his return to Mugonero, Pastor Ntakirutimana had resumed his normal church duties.

The witness further testified that Pastor Ntakirutimana was a respectable and loved elder in Mugonero. Witness Number Four continued his testimony under cross-examination by the prosecution. He is the third of 34 scheduled defence witness.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/FH (NK-0207f)


* FEBRUARY 7th, 2002
____________________________________________
ICTR/ NTAKIRUTIMANAS/ TWAGIRAMUNGU

RPF MUST ALSO ADMIT RESPONSIBILITY IN GENOCIDE, SAYS EX-PREMIER

Arusha, February 7th, 2002 (FH) - The current pro-Tutsi regime in Rwanda must also admit responsibility in the 1994 genocide, former Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu said late Tuesday.

"I believe we all bear some responsibility for what happened in Rwanda," he said. "The RPF (party of current president Paul Kagame) must also accept that it committed crimes and that it killed Rwandans, even if it doesn't want to admit that it killed Hutus."

The former Prime Minister was speaking to Hirondelle after testifying as a defence witness in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Twagiramungu, a moderate Hutu, was leader of the opposition MDR party in Rwanda. He was Prime Minister designate under the August 1993 Arusha peace accords but only became Prime Minister when the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power in July 1994, ending the genocide. He resigned from that government and fled to exile in August 1995, after denouncing army atrocities against civilians.

"Preparation but no plan"

Twagiramungu told the ICTR he believed that extremist Hutus in the former regime made preparations to wipe out the opposition, Hutu and Tutsi alike, but that they did not plan the genocide sparked by the downing of former president Juvénal Habyarimana's plane on April 6th, 1994.

"There was psychological preparation, when people chanted 'Tuzabatsembatsemba', that is, that they were going to exterminate everyone who opposed President Habyarimana (…)," he told Hirondelle. "Was that plan carried out because President Habyarimana was assassinated along with his close associates ? If the answer is yes, that means it was the same people that conceived the plan who downed the plane. But there is proof today that it was unfortunately not them who did it. And so I say we have to re-examine past declarations, and Rwandans must try to rewrite their own history."

Twagiramungu told the court in his testimony that he suspected it was the RPF that had shot down the plane.

But he told Hirondelle that while extremist Hutus did not plan to start the genocide on April 6th, that did not mean it was "spontaneous". He said he had never denied that the killings were directed by members of the pro-Hutu former army and interim government.

"That's why," he continued, "I have always said that the Kambanda government must assume responsibility. (…) If there were killings, someone was directing them. If massacres were taking place and a government was there without trying to stop them, or rather saying that to stop the RPF people should continue the killings… that was a bad decision, I think I have always been clear on that point."

Jean Kambanda was Prime Minister of the interim government that claimed power on April 9th, 1994. He is serving a life sentence for genocide, after pleading guilty before the ICTR.

Not just a Tutsi genocide

Twagiramungu also told the court he did not agree that the genocide was only against Tutsis. He said all opponents of the Habyarimana regime had been targeted, that many Hutus also died, and that this should be recognized.

"People say in the press and in books that there was a plan to kill Tutsis," he told Hirondelle. "And I told the court that there had indeed been planning, but not to exterminate only Tutsis, it was to kill Tutsis and Hutus. And that there was a genocide, but not a genocide of Tutsis alone. There was a genocide of Tutsis and members of the opposition. There were millions of people in the opposition, and those millions were not only Tutsis."

He regretted that there had never been any reliable investigation into the victims of the genocide. "I will never accept that there was a genocide of Tutsis only," he continued. "That would be to betray my brothers and other Rwandans who were with me in my party and other parties, and who perished under the machetes or under the hoes of all those killers.

Talking to prosecution

Having testified for the first time for defence, Hirondelle asked Twagiramungu if he would also be prepared to testify for prosecution in another case. He said he had already talked to the prosecution, but recounted how his experience had not inspired confidence.

"In 2000 I met with a delegation from the Office of the Prosecutor, I was interviewed for six hours," he said. "And I signed a document which they exhibited (on Monday) before the Tribunal, hoping to catch me out with contradictions, which did not happen. I even expressed regret that this document had been distributed well beforehand. At least six months ago this document was circulating in Belgium among certain individuals, just like that. And I regretted the Office of the Prosecutor's lack of confidentiality."

"If I have come here today for the defence and in 2000 I answered the Prosecutor's questions, I don't see why I would not accept an invitation from the Prosecutor, under certain circumstances," he continued. "If it were someone (an accused) with whom I had had personal relations, I would accept. But I must also add that I think I have made the essential clarifications, whether it be for the defence or the Prosecutor. The document (prosecution statement) is there. I think people should put it together with what I said for the defence."

JC/FH (NK_0207e)


FEBRUARY 5th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR'S SON DEFENDS HIM IN GENOCIDE TRIAL

Arusha, February 5th, 2002 (FH) - The son of genocide suspect and Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana on Tuesday began his testimony at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Jerome Nataki is the second defence witness in the trial of his father and his brother, medical
doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan, 77, was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church mission at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald, 44, was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the genocide.

"My father was dedicated to saving souls as my brother was dedicated to saving lives", Nataki (changed his name from Ntakirutimana after acquiring US citizenship) told the court. Nataki lived in Rwanda until July, 1994, when he fled to Zambia and then to the US.

The Ntakirutimanas are accused of luring Tutsis to take refugee in the Mugonero church complex and later ferrying in militias and soldiers to kill the refugees. According to the Prosecutor, an estimated 5,000 Tutsis were killed in the complex.

Nataki testified that neither his father nor his brother had ever owned a gun, held a gun, travelled in the company of militias or attended a political meeting of any kind. The prosecutor contends that Elizaphan and Gerard personally led attacks and killed Tutsis using their own guns.

Nataki told the court that his father's daily routine during the genocide was going to his office during weekdays and "spreading the word of God" on Saturdays. Asked about his brother's routine during the genocide, Nataki broke down in tears before answering: " He is one of my brothers with whom I spent a lot of time. He is a guy who was friendly to everyone." Nataki said that Gerald had spent his days taking care of patients at Mugonero hospital.

Before Nataki's testimony, ex-Rwandan Prime Minister, Faustin Twagiramungu concluded his testimony. The defence is scheduled to present 32 more witnesses.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia
Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/FH (NK-0205e)


FEBRUARY 4TH, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

THERE WAS NO PLAN FOR TUTSI GENOCIDE, SAYS EX-PREMIER

Arusha, February 4th, 2002 (FH) - There was never a plan in the run up to the 1994 Rwanda genocide to eliminate all Tutsis, former Rwandan Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu told the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday. Twagiramungu is the first defence witness in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald.

However, Twagiramungu said that there could have been a "contingency plan" or "preparation" to kill not only Tutsis but also Hutus opposed to the government. He said it was a fact that Interahamwe Hutu militia had been armed and trained, and that media such as RTLM radio were used to broadcast hate propaganda. But, he said, "if there has been preparation of massacres, they were not directed only to Tutsis".

Twagiramungu was speaking under cross-questioning by the prosecution. He earlier told the court that he believed the April 6th 1994 downing of former president Juvénal Habyarimana's plane was the trigger for the April to July killing spree.

Twagiramungu said he suspected that the pro-Tutsi RPF might have shot down the plane, and not extremists within Habyarimana's entourage, because of their reactions in the immediate aftermath. He said that when he called them for confirmation of the plane crash, they had fled their homes in fear, rather than stepping in to take over as he expected. "The people who shot down the plane are not the ones we think," he told the court.

The witness was leader of the opposition MDR party and Prime Minister designate under the August 1993 Arusha peace accords. However, he only became Prime Minister when the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power in July 1994, ending the genocide. He resigned from that government and fled into exile in August 1995, after denouncing army atrocities against civilians.

Twagiramungu said there were many examples of where RPF soldiers had committed killings and massacres of Hutu civilians, during the genocide but especially afterwards. He said that as Prime Minister he had called for international investigations, but his calls had gone unheeded.

Defending the Pastor

Twagiramungu also told the court he did not believe that Pastor Ntakirutimana or any of his sons could have participated in the genocide, given their good character. "I can't believe that old man has taken a machete, a hoe or a Kalashinkov or sat down to say 'let us make a plan to kill Tutsis'," he said. The witness said he knew the Pastor and some of his children, although he did not know Gerald personally.

Twagiramungu said, however, that by "leaving the US after school to come and be a doctor in the bush in Kibuye", Gerald had made a "sacrifice" that showed how much he loved his country. "But now he is here," Twagiramungu continued. "That is the drama of Rwanda."

The witness said that the churches in Rwanda had played an important role in pressing for democracy before the genocide. He said that all churches, including the Seventh Day Adventist church, had set up a committee called "contact committee", aimed at bringing peace between warring parties.

The prosecution maintains that churches in Rwanda actively participated in the planning and execution of the genocide.

" There could be isolated cases of church leaders that were involved in the genocide," said Twagiramungu, " but these shouldn't change the undertaking of the churches in Rwanda."

GG/JC/FH (NK-0204f)


FEBRUARY 4th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/ NTAKIRUTIMANAS

RPF HAD HIDDEN AGENDA, SAYS RWANDAN EX-PRIME MINISTER

Arusha, February 4th, 2002 (FH) - The pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) had a hidden agenda during the peace process that preceded the 1994 genocide, former Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu told the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday. Twagiramungu is the first defence witness in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald.

Twagiramungu said that even during the Arusha peace negotiations, RPF leader Paul Kagame had said that "power is here in the gun", and that Kagame did not want any of the positions he was offered in a broad based transitional government ("BBTG"). That made former president Juvénal Habyarimana nervous, said the witness, but Kagame refused a 1993 invitation to meet Habyarimana in Uganda for discussions.

As leader of the opposition MDR party, Twagiramungu was designated Prime Minister of the BBTG which, by the time the genocide erupted in April 1994, had still not been set up. When RPF rebels took power in July that year, ending the genocide, Twagiramungu became Prime Minister of the first RPF-led government under current president Kagame. However, he fled into exile in Belgium the following year.

The witness is considered a moderate Hutu, now an opponent of the current regime in Kigali. He is testifying in English.

"Digging our own graves"

Twagiramungu told the court how, in a climate of violence and instability, the installation of the BBTG was continually delayed. Under the August 1993 peace accord, the new government was to be sworn in on October 10th the same year, but "unfortunately there were delaying tactics on both sides", he told the court. "We were digging our own graves, that's what happened."

The witness said he thought Habyarimana wanted to stall the process because he did not have the blocking minority he needed to control the new parliament; and the delay also suited the RPF. "For the RPF, the more we delayed, the more they prepared for war and the more they knew power was going to be taken," said Twagiramungu. "The fruit was ripe."

The peace accord gave the RPF the right to keep a battalion of 600 soldiers in Kigali, but Twagiramungu said that by April 6th, 1994, when the downing of Habyarimana's 'plane sparked genocide and war, the RPF had "probably 2,000" troops in the capital.

"Due to the delaying tactics, they were in Kigali for five months," he told the court, "and they were not escorting personalities, they were doing some activities such as gathering information and distributing weapons."

Twagiramungu said that in early 1994 there was a spate of political assassinations, but that "those who wanted a civil war" did not get it at that point. He said the hardline Hutu CDR used terror to stop the installation of the transition government, from which it had been excluded. According to Twagiramungu, grenades were thrown "everywhere… in public markets, bus stations and bars".

"We were so accustomed to hearing explosions that when the "plane of Habyarimana was shot down, I didn't pay much attention," the former Prime Minister said. He said he felt that the government was "no longer in control" and that "a lot of events in Kigali" had become uncontrollable at that time.

The former Prime Minister also blamed the international community for having failed to provide peacekeeping troops on time, under the Arusha accord. He said that by being two months late, they had given the impression that the peace agreement was "not serious".

JC/FH (RW-0204e)


JANUARY 8th, 2002
______________________________________________
ICTR/ NTAKIRUTIMANA

RWANDAN PASTOR'S GENOCIDE TRIAL TO RESUME NEXT MONTH

Arusha, January 8th, 2002 (FH) - The genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald is set to resume on February 4th before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and not on January 14th as previously announced.

Informed sources say hearings have been put back because the accused Gerald Ntakirutimana has been assigned a new defence lawyer. In December the ICTR announced it had assigned him David Jacobs of Canada, to replace Edward
Medvene of the US who was suffering from health problems.

At the time of the 1994 genocide, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye, western Rwanda. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two have pleaded
not guilty to five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Pastor Elizaphan is defended by former US Attorney General Ramsay Clark of the US. The trial was suspended last November 5th after the prosecution closed its case. It is set to resume with the hearing of witnesses for the defence.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal. It started on September 18th, 2001. Since then, the court has heard 19 prosecution witnesses in 27 trial days, making it the speediest case before the ICTR so far.
AT/JC/DO/FH (NT-0108e)



NOVEMBER 30th, 2001
______________________________________________
ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PROSECUTOR LOSES JUDICIAL NOTICE MOTION IN PASTOR-SON TRIAL

Arusha, November 29th, 2001 (FH) Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) have rejected a prosecution motion for judicial notice in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his doctor son Gerald Ntakirutimana.

Prosecution had applied for judicial notice on 43 "adjudicated facts" regarding the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The prosecution largely referred to previous judgements of the ICTR as support for its motion. The defence argued that: "Familiarity acquired in prior cases is a dangerous source of judicial economy if the Trial Chamber remains influenced by them".

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerald. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two have pleaded not guilty to five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In rejecting the motion, Trial Chamber One said that it would "avoid taking judicial notice of facts that are subject to reasonable dispute". It also ruled that the case law supporting the Prosecutor's arguments was weak. "The Chamber prefers in the circumstances of the present case to hear evidence and arguments on the issue, rather than take judicial notice,"
reads the decision.

Prosecution and defence agreed on matters regarding treaties signed by Rwanda prior to the 1994 genocide, Rwandan administrative structures and the personal history of the two accused. The Chamber ruled that since the two parties agreed on those matters, there was no need to take judicial notice of them.

Examples of contested points were: that there was in existence in Rwanda between April, 6th and July 17th, 1994 a genocidal plan to exterminate the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda; and that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people
died in Rwanda as a result of the widespread violence.

Defence had argued that the prosecution sought to have "virtually every fact essential to convict, except individual participation, established by judicial notice".

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/JC/DO/FH (NK_1129e)


NOVEMBER 1st, 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR-SON GENOCIDE TRIAL ADJOURNED TO JANUARY

Arusha, November 5th, 2001 (FH) The genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald Ntakirutimana at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was on Friday adjourned until January 14th, 2001. The defence will start its case when the trial resumes. The court adjourned after hearing the 19th and last prosecution witness.

Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 77, is being jointly tried with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana, 44. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

This trial started on September 18th, 2001. Since then, the court has heard the 19 prosecution witnesses, including one expert and two investigators in 27 trial days.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

The last prosecution witness 'OO', named as such to protect his/her identity, testified in closed session.

Trial Chamber One will from November 12th, 2001, hear the continuation of the so-called media trial. The media trial groups Ferdinand Nahimana, founder member and alleged former director of Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM); Jean-Bosco-Barayagwiza, former politician and RTLM board member; and Hassan Ngeze, former editor of the newspaper Kangura.

The media trial adjourned mid-September, 2001, after hearing 30 prosecution witnesses. It began on October 23rd, 2000.

GG/JC/PHD7FH (NK_1105E)


NOVEMBER 1st, 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

CHURCH HELPED MASTERMIND RWANDA GENOCIDE, SAYS EXPERT

Arusha, November 1st, 2001 (FH) The church in Rwanda was only next to the government in the preparation and execution of the 1994 genocide, an expert witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday. Canadian journalist Hugh McCullum was testifying in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald Ntakirutimana.

"The church in Rwanda is the most responsible institution for the genocide only second to the government," McCullum told the court. McCullum based most of his expert report on the Roman Catholic and the Anglican Churches.

Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye, western Rwanda. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Despite having been in Rwanda most of the period of the genocide, McCullum conceded under cross-examination that he had neither been to Kibuye nor interviewed any Seventh Day Adventists there.

Defence counsel for Pastor Ntakirutimana, former US attorney Ramsey Clark suggested that McCullum's testimony was lacking in knowledge of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. "I don't think the church led to the genocide," Clark told McCullim. "I think you have a terrible hatred of the church."

McCullum said that despite not having acquired profound information on the Seventh Day Adventist church in particular, he was convinced of a strong similarity in the "general pattern of behaviour" between the different churches in Rwanda.

McCullum said that Christian missionaries from Europe had brought to Rwanda racist ideologies that split Rwandans along Hutu-Tutsi lines.

He further said that the church in Rwanda had a "profound" relationship with state authorities. "The church did not object to racist programmes of the authorities," McCullum said. He said that the church had instead furthered division among the Rwandans.

"During the genocide", said McCullum, "many Tutsis were lured into churches by their pastors and priests only to be handed over to the killers."

The Prosecutor accuses Pastor Ntakirutimana, among other things, of luring Tutsi refugees into Mugonero church complex during the genocide and later bringing in extremist Hutu militias and soldiers to kill them.

McCullum further said that the church had until now generally refused to acknowledge its role. "Church leaders have since and during the genocide showed no repentance, no remorse, have not asked for forgiveness and have in many cases justified the genocide," he said.

McCullum is the author of a book on the Rwandan genocide entitled "The angels have left us; The Rwandan tragedy and the church", and of various reports for the World Council of Churches. He is a journalist trainer for the Zimbabwe-based Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC).

McCullum is the 18th prosecution witness in this trial. One more witness is set to testify before the prosecution closes its case.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/FH/PHD/FH (NK_1101E)


OCTOBER 31st, 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

CANADIAN JOURNALIST TESTIFIES IN GENOCIDE TRIAL

Arusha, October 31st, 2001 (FH) A Canadian journalist, Hugh McCullum, on Wednesday began testifying as an expert witness in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Doctor Gerald Ntakirutimana at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). McCullum was in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.

Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana. At the time of the genocide, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye, western Rwanda. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

McCullum is the author of a book on Rwandan genocide entitled "The angels have left us; The Rwandan tragedy and the church". He is a journalist trainer for the South African Development Community (SADC). McCullum is the last prosecution witness in this trial.

McCullum appeared for a few minutes in which he explained his CV, before the court adjourned for the day. He will start substantive testimony on Thursday.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_1031e)



OCTOBER 30th, 2001

ICTR / NTAKIRUTIMANAS

PASTOR SAID GOD HAD ORDERED EXTERMINATION OF TUTSIS, WITNESS CLAIMS

Arusha, October 30th, 2001 (FH) Militias working under Seventh Day Adventist Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana during the 1994 genocide said he told them "God had ordered that Tutsis should be killed and exterminated", a prosecution witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday.

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

Witness "SS", named as such to protect his identity, claimed that the militias quoted the Pastor's words as they pursued him (the witness) in Kibuye prefecture, western Rwanda. SS said that he had sighted the Pastor in this gang of militias. He said he had managed to escape from the militias.

SS also told the court that in April 1994, Doctor Gerald Ntakirutimana had tried to kill him. "He shot at me as I was fleeing the attack at Mugonero complex," SS told the court, "but I managed to disappear into the bushes."

Witness SS told the court that he was a survivor of the genocide. He is the 14th and last factual witness for the prosecution. An expert witness, Canadian journalist Hugh McCullum, is expected to start testifying on Wednesday before the prosecution wraps up its case.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_1030f)


OCTOBER 30th, 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

DOCTOR WAS APPOINTED GENOCIDE MILITIA LEADER, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, October 30th, 2001 (FH) Genocide suspect Doctor Gerald Ntakirutimana was appointed as leader of a militia group that was to attack Tutsis in the Bisesero hills (Kibuye prefecture, western Rwanda) during the 1994 genocide, a witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday.

Protected prosecution witness "UU" testified that Gerald had been appointed by former Rwandan Information Minister Eliezer Niyitegeka (Niyitegeka is in detention at the ICTR awaiting trial). The appointment was announced during a meeting in Kibuye to evaluate the success of the killings in Kibuye, UU told the court.

Gerald Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his father, Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana . At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

UU said he was a Tutsi survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He told the court that he had attended the meeting in the guise of a Hutu, to avoid suspicion if he stayed away from the meeting. He said that he had accompanied a Hutu militia friend and protector.

Witness UU also told the court that in another meeting during the same month of June, 1994, Gerald and other militia leaders had been handed boxes of guns by Niyitegeka. The guns, UU, said were to be used to kill Tutsis.

In a meeting held after an attack on Bisesero, UU quoted Gerald as having told militias that Hutus had to "uproot the thorns such that we never come across them again". Thorns, UU said, meant Tutsis.

UU told the court that he had personally accompanied the attackers in a bid to avoid any suspicion that he was Tutsi. He said that he kept close to his militia leader friend all the time. UU also told the court that he had been part of an attack that killed his sister. "However," he said, " I withdrew from the group when I saw my sister but was later told of her death".

'UU' is the 13th prosecution witness. Two more witnesses, a factual witness and an expert witness, are expected to testify before the prosecution closes its case.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_1030E)



OCTOBER 26th, 2001

ICTR/ NTAKIRUTIMANAS

DOCTOR PARTICIPATED IN GENOCIDE MEETING

Arusha, October 25th, 2001 (FH) - Genocide suspect and medical doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana participated in a meeting to evaluate progress of the killing of Tutsis at the peak of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday.

Gerard Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his father, Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana. At the time of the genocide, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye, western Rwanda. Gerard was a doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

Protected witness 'UU' told the court that the meeting took place at the Kibuye prefectural offices around June 1994.

"Kayishema (then prefect of Kibuye, sentenced to life in prison by the ICTR) told the meeting that there were many Tutsis who were still alive and had to be killed," UU told the court. According to the witness, Gerard told the meeting that "the problem they were facing was that they did not have enough weapons".

Kayishema reportedly designated former information minister Eliezer Niyitegeka and Obed Ruzindana to find weapons immediately and distribute them. UU told the court that he had personally attended the meeting.

Kibuye businessman Ruzindana was tried before the ICTR with Kayishema and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Niyitegeka is in Tribunal custody awaiting trial.

UU is the thirteenth prosecution witness. He will continue testifying on Monday. Prosecutor Charles Phillips of Nigeria and the UK told the court that the prosecution expected to bring only two or three more witnesses, and was likely to wrap its case up next week.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_1025e)



OCTOBER 22nd, 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANAS

PASTOR AND SON LED ATTACK DURING THE GENOCIDE, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, October 22nd, 2001 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald Ntakirutimana led a militia attack on Tutsi refugees during the 1994 genocide, a witness told judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday.

Protected witness 'XX' said that the attack took place in mid-May 1994 in Bisesero hills in the west Rwandan province of Kibuye.

"Many many many (sic) people were killed on this day," XX told the court before she broke down in tears."I came across rivers of blood flowing down the hills."

Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

XX, a Tutsi woman, told the court that she was a survivor of the attack in Bisesero hills. She is a former employee of the Mugonero infirmary.

Gerald's defence counsel Edward Medvene of the US contested XX's testimony, saying that she had not mentioned anything about Bisesero hills in her first statement to prosecution investigators in 1995.

XX said that she could have forgotten to mention the Bisesero events to the investigators at that time, due to mental complications she was suffering at the time. She said the complications were a result of the genocide.

Witness XX's testimony began on Friday but the court adjourned shortly after opening as XX said she wasn't feeling well.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_1022E)


OCTOBER 19th 2001

ICTR/ NTAKIRUTIMANA

CASE ADJOURNED DUE TO SICK WITNESS

Arusha, October 19th, 2001 (FH) - The trial of Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana was postponed on Friday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) because a prosecution witness said she felt ill and could not continue.

Protected witness "XX" began testifying, led by prosecutor Bio-Tia Stevens of the US. However, after a short while the witness told the court she was unwell. XX had been due to start her testimony on Thursday but prosecutors said she had been taken sick and hospitalised in Arusha.

The witness is a Tutsi woman who survived the massacres at Mugonero (Kibuye prefecture, western Rwanda) where the accused lived and worked. At the time of the genocide, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church in Mugonero, while Gerard was a doctor at the infirmary in the same complex. XX told the court that she had been working at the Mugonero infirmary in 1994.

Prosecution alleges that the Ntakirutimanas participated in the April 16th, 1994 massacres of Tutsi refugees who fled to the Seventh Day Adventist complex.

Presiding judge Navanethem Pillay ordered the trial adjourned to Monday, saying she hoped the witness would be in better health.

Judge Pillay was presiding in the short-term absence of Judge Mose of Norway, who normally presides in this case before Trial Chamber One. The other judge in this trial is Andrésia Vaz of Senegal. ICTR Rules provide that a trial can proceed with only two judges for up to five days.

SW/JC/PHD/NK_1019E


OCTOBER 18th, 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR COULD HAVE STOPPED MASSACRES, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, October 18th, 2001 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana had "spiritual and moral" authority to avert or reduce the magnitude of 1994 massacres in his region of western Rwanda, a witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday.

"As a spiritual leader who wielded great influence over his people and was in communication with political authorities, Pastor Ntakirutimana had the capacity to stop the killings," protected prosecution witness "QQ" told the court.

Seventh Day Adventist Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerard Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerard was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex.

The two have pleaded not guilty to five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

Witness QQ, a former employee of Mugonero hospital, told the court that he had in 1995 participated in the exhumation and re-burial of between 6,000 and 7,000 Tutsi people killed in Mugonero church complex during the genocide.

Lawyers for Pastor Ntakirutimana and Doctor Ntakirutimana contested the figures, suggesting that the witness had exaggerated.

The Prosecutor alleges that the Ntakirutimanas are responsible for the killings of about 6,000 Tutsis that had taken refugee at the Mugonero complex.

The court adjourned after witness QQ's testimony, as prosecution said the next scheduled witness was unable to testify because she was ill and had been admitted to hospital in Arusha. Presiding judge Navanethem Pillay of South Africa said the trial would continue on Friday if the witness had recovered.

Judge Pillay was presiding in the short-term absence of Judge Mose of Norway, who normally presides in this case before Trial Chamber One. The other judge in this trial is Andrésia Vaz of Senegal. ICTR Rules provide that a trial can proceed with only two judges for up to five days.

GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_1018e)




* OCTOBER 10th, 2001

ICTR/ NTAKIRUTIMANAS

PROSECUTION WANTS JUDICIAL NOTICE OF GENOCIDE

Arusha, October 10th, 2001 (FH) Prosecutors in the genocide trial of Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald on Wednesday asked a court of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for judicial notice that genocide occurred in Rwanda in 1994.

Prosecutor Charles Adeogun-Philips (Nigeria/ Canada) suggested the court could draw on other ICTR cases where judges found there had been genocide in Rwanda, and in its western prefecture of Kibuye where the Ntakirutimanas lived.

At the time of the genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. His son Gerald was a doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same Adventist complex. The two are charged in connection with massacres of Tutsis at Mugonero and in the nearby hills of Bisesero, where many persecuted Tutsis fled. They have pleaded not guilty to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

American defence lawyers Ramsay Clark for Elizaphan and Edward Medvene for Gerald argued against the Prosecutor's request, saying prosecution wanted the court to draw conclusions based on procedures to which their clients had not been party. They said that to grant the request would be to destroy the presumption of innocence.

Ramsey Clark said he recognized that there had been a "vast human tragedy" in Rwanda that had caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. However, he said he did not accept the notion that it was one genocide committed by people who were genetically programmed to kill. The lawyer said that to simplify things in such a way would be to commit an error against humanity.

Presiding judge Erik Mose of Norway indicated it was in the court's power to hand down a judicial notice, especially on the points where the parties agreed. The judges will deliberate on the motion before making a decision.

The case was adjourned for one week, to allow ICTR judges to attend a seminar in Dublin, Ireland, with their colleagues from the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Prosecution has brought ten witnesses against the Ntakirutimanas since their case began on September 17th. Some ten more prosecution witnesses are expected.

The prosecutors' strategy in this case seems to differ from that of prosecution in the so-called Butare trial of six accused, also before the ICTR. At the start of the Butare case, prosecutor Silvana Arbia of Italy said it was up to prosecution in each case to prove that the alleged massacres constituted genocide.

AT/JC/PHD/FH (NT_1010E



SEPTEMBER 28th 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

DOCTOR HUNTED AND KILLED TUTSI REFUGEES, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, September 28th, 2001 (FH) - A genocide survivor told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Friday that medical doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana hunted for and killed Tutsi refugees in Bisesero hills (Kibuye province, western Rwanda) during the genocide.

Gerard Ntakirutimana is being tried with his father Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana. At the time of the genocide, Gerard was a doctor at the Mugonero Seventh Day Adventist mission hospital in Kibuye. His father was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church that lay in the same complex. The two have pleaded not guilty to five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Witness FF, named as such to protect her identity, told the court that Gerard, accompanied by Interahamwe (extremist Hutu militia), had pursued and killed Tutsi refugees at Murambi, Gitwe, Kidashya, and Mutiti hills in Bisesero.

FF, a Tutsi woman, said she had been an employee of Mugonero Hospital until she fled at the peak of the genocide. She said she had sustained serious injuries on her head and her hands during an attack on the hospital on April 16th, 1994. The witness said she was still haunted by frequent headaches and her fingers had been permanently crippled.

Doctor mistreated Tutsi patients

Witness FF also told the court that on April 15th, 1994, a day before the attack on the hospital complex, Doctor Ntakirutimana, accompanied by the hospital chief of personnel, visited the hospital and "discharged Hutu patients and gave them medicine to take home with them".

The remaining Tutsi patients, FF added, were crowded into one wing of the hospital. The following day, she said, government soldiers and Interahamwe attacked and killed the patients and other Tutsi refugees in the hospital, the chapel and other buildings in the Mugonero Seventh Day Adventist mission. The witness said that among the vehicles that ferried the attackers to the complex was Elizaphan's truck and a truck used by Gerard. Some 5,000 Tutsis were killed in this attack, according to the prosecution.

Meanwhile, Elizaphan's lawyer, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark submitted to the court a motion requesting the dismissal of a protected prosecution witness intending to testify next week. Clark argued that the witness had, during re-confirmation of his testimony, brought up new charges against Elizaphan that had not been included in the indictment. "You can't permit such gross unfairness," Clark told the court.

Prosecutor Charles Philips (Nigeria/UK) objected, saying that the witness had not testified to "new information" but rather "additional information". The court is expected to deliver its ruling next week.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/PHD/NK_0928e)


SEPTEMBER 25th 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR LURED REFUGEES TO DOOMED CHURCH COMPLEX, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, September 25th, 2001 (FH) - Seventh Day Adventist pastor and genocide suspect Elizaphan Ntakirutimana lured Tutsi refugees to a church complex that was later to be attacked by a force he led, a prosecution witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday.

Some 5,000 Tutsis were killed in the attack on Mugonero Seventh Day Adventist complex (Kibuye prefecture, western Rwanda) on April 16th, 1994, according to the prosecution.

Pastor Elizaphan is being jointly tried with his son Gerard Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero. Gerard was a doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

Witness 'HH', named as such to shield his identity, said that the Tutsis invited to take refuge at Mugonero had initially fled to Bisesero hills and other places in Kibuye. HH said Pastor Elizaphan had asked him personally to go and persuade Tutsis, especially employees of the complex, to come to Mugonero so their security could be ensured.

"I personally convinced four people to come back," HH told the court. About three days later, he said, "Pastor Ntakirutimana and Gerard arrived at the complex driving two truckloads of gendarmes (military police) and armed civilians." The people in the vehicles, together with other attackers, then started shooting and killing the refugees, the witness continued.

HH is the fifth prosecution witness. He told the court he was a Tutsi survivor of the attack on Mugonero. At the height of the killings there, HH said, he hid in the ceiling of the infirmary.

This trial began on September 18th 2001. Prosecutors have said they plan to call a total of 24 witnesses.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal. Judge Pillay is currently away for a week on mission.

GG/JC/PHD/NK_0925e)



SEPTEMBER 24th 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR ORDERED DESTRUCTION OF CHURCH ROOF TO EXPOSE REFUGEES, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, September 24th, 2001 (FH) - Genocide suspect Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana ordered the destruction of a church roof to expose Tutsi refugees to rain in the west Rwandan province of Kibuye during the 1994 genocide, a witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday.

Seventh Day Adventist Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerald Ntakirutimana. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in Kibuye. Gerald was a medical doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two are charged with five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide.

The church allegedly destroyed on the orders of Elizaphan was in Murambi district in Kibuye. Protected prosecution witness "GG", dubbed as such to shield his identity, said that Elizaphan had come to the church in the company of his son Gerard.

Witness GG further testified that Elizaphan and Gerard had led militia attacks on Mubuga, Muyira, and Rwiramba hills in Kibuye. In the attack on Mubuga, said GG, the two accused drove two truckloads of militiamen to a school where Tutsis had taken refuge. "They killed people until evening," GG said of the militia. The witness also said the militia had come to the school chanting "attack them, exterminate them".

GG told the court that he was a survivor of the attacks in Mugonero area. He also said that he had attended Elizaphan's church and had been baptized by Elizaphan.

Unreliable testimony?

At the beginning of cross-examination, Gerard's American lawyer Edward Medvene urged the court to throw out the whole of GG's testimony, saying that the same witness had appeared in an earlier case before the ICTR when his testimony was dismissed as unreliable. GG apparently testified in the case of former Kibuye prefect Clement Kayishema and businessman Obed Ruzindana.

The prosecution objected to the defence request, saying that the witness was currently testifying on different events and different accused.

The Chamber ruled that defence was free to challenge the witness's credibility during cross-examination and its closing arguments. Presiding judge Erik Mose of Norway said the court would take note of the defence and prosecution arguments during final evaluation of the testimony.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal. Judge Pillay is currently away for a week on mission.

GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_0924e)

SEPTEMBER 20th 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

DOCTOR KILLED HOSPITAL ACCOUNTANT, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, September 20th, 2001 (FH) Rwandan genocide suspect Doctor Gerard Ntakirutimana shot and killed the accountant of the hospital where he worked during the 1994 genocide, a witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday.

Doctor Gerard is being tried jointly with his father Elizaphan Ntakirutimana. At the time of the genocide, Elizaphan was Pastor of Seventh Day Adventist church in Mugonero, Kibuye prefecture, while Gerard was a doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two have pleaded not guilty to five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The witness, dubbed "GG" to protect his identity, said the killing of the accountant Charles took place at some time in April 1994, after the genocide started. "He (Gerard) called out to Charles," GG told the court. "Charles turned towards him, and he immediately shot him in the chest."

GG also testified that Pastor Elizaphan had driven a truckload of militiamen to the church complex to kill Tutsis that had sought refuge there.

The previous prosecution witness, "MM", had earlier admitted under cross-examination that Gerard helped a young Tutsi boy to flee at the peak of the killings in Mugonero. "I recognize that in fact it was a good gesture because the boy is still alive," said MM.

Gerard's American defence lawyer Edward Medvene also challenged MM's testimony that Doctor Gerard had ordered the cutting of the telephone connection to Mugonero complex at the time Tutsis were taking refuge there.

Medvene suggested that the telephone connection had been cut by Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) Tutsi guerillas rather than by Doctor Gerard. However, MM insisted he had seen someone sent by Gerard cut the phone line from within the complex.

Medvene also put to the witness that contrary to MM's testimony, the water supply to the complex had not been cut on Gerard's orders. "How could he have done this when his family used the same supply line?" asked the lawyer. The witness responded that Gerard and other staff members in the complex could have relied on reserve tanks for water.

The trial continues on Monday with the testimony of GG. At the end of Thursday's session, presiding Judge Erik Mose of Norway said only two judges would sit on the case at the beginning of next week, as Judge Navanethem Pillay of South Africa will be away on mission.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Mose (presiding), Pillay and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/phd/FH (NK_0920e)

SEPTEMBER 19th 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR LED ATTACKERS TO KILL TUTSI REFUGEES, SAYS WITNESS

Arusha, September 19th, 2001 (FH) - Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana led an armed attack on Tutsi refugees at a church complex during the 1994 genocide, a witness told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesday. Some 5,000 Tutsis died in this attack, according to ICTR prosecutors.

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is being jointly tried with his son Gerard. At the time of the genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Mugonero in the west Rwandan province of Kibuye. Gerard was a doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex. The two have pleaded not guilty to five counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The third prosecution witness, dubbed "MM" to protect his identity, is a former employee at the Mugonero mission complex. He told the court that he had survived the attack by hiding among dead bodies. "On the morning of April 16th, 1994, he (Pastor Elizaphan) came in a pick-up car with five or six gendarmes," MM told the court. "The gendarmes then began shooting into the refugees."

MM told the court that he had lost his father, wife and daughter in the attack. The Tutsis, comprising mostly women and children, had taken refugee at the complex following the April 6th downing of the president's plane that sparked the genocide.

Prior to the attack, MM told the court, several Tutsi Seventh Day Adventist pastors, including his own father, had written a letter to Elizaphan begging him to ask the mayor to provide protection.

"We wish to inform you that we have heard that tomorrow we will be killed with our families," reads part of the letter, as produced by prosecution. "We therefore request you to intervene on our behalf and talk with the mayor."

Witness MM broke down in tears when the prosecutor provided him with a copy of the letter to identify.

The witness further testified that at the time of the attack, water and telephone connections serving the complex had been cut on Doctor Gerard's orders. "The hospital no longer operated…Gerard knew he was simply punishing the Tutsi refugees," MM told the court.

MM continued his testimony under cross-examination from the pastor's defence counsel, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Two other witnesses have testified since the trial began on Tuesday. Prosecution investigators Upendva Bhagel of India and Antonio Maria Lucassen of the Netherlands both testified on photographs, sketches and a video of alleged crime scenes mentioned in the indictment against the two accused. The prosecution is scheduled to bring a total of 24 witnesses.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

GG/JC/PHD/FH (NK_0919E)

SEPTEMBER 18th 2001

ICTR / NTAKIRUTIMANA

PASTOR AND DOCTOR ARE GOOD MEN, SAY LAWYERS

Arusha, September 18th, 2001 (FH) Genocide charges against Seventh Day Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gérard do not make sense in terms of their lives and characters, lawyers for the accused told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), as their trial opened on Tuesday.

Former US Attorney General Ramsay Clark for Pastor Elizaphan, and Edward Medvene (US) for Doctor Gerard, portrayed their clients as good men, who were not involved in politics, promoted tolerance and had nothing to gain by participating in genocide.

"When the accused here are evaluated, just from their personal backgrounds, it's extremely difficult, it's dumbfounding and would lead to enormous pessimism, to believe that they could be swept up into the conduct alleged here," Clark pleaded. He suggested reasons why prosecution witnesses might give false testimony in the context of continuing regional conflict, while Medvene urged the court to "suspend judgement" during presentation of the prosecution case.

The father and son are charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions (war crimes). In an opening speech earlier in the day, prosecutor Charles Philips described them as "predators, who delivered thousands to their deaths and actually committed murders themselves".

In particular, the two are accused of luring Tutsis to the Mugonero church and hospital complex where they worked, and conspiring with local authorities to have the refugees massacred. According to the Prosecutor, the two men were part of a convoy of attackers that arrived in Mugonero on April 16th, 1994, and slaughtered hundreds of Tutsi refugees there.

However, Clark told the court that Pastor Elizaphan was "involved in saving souls, just as Gerard Ntakirutimana was involved in saving lives". He said his client "never had a weapon, never possessed a weapon, couldn't wring the neck of a chicken", while Medvene said Gerard "didn't take part in any violence in any sense at any place or any time".

As the genocide began and violence spiralled outwards from Kigali, Clark said Pastor Elizaphan continued his church work, but by April 15th the situation in Mugonero had become desperate and people could sense danger. It was then that he received a letter from seven Tutsi pastors urging him to go to the local mayor and ask for protection, because they had heard they would be killed the following day with their families.

According to the Prosecutor, the Pastor sent a cold reply telling the letter-writers he could do nothing and that their fate was sealed, "or words to that effect".

However, according to Clark, Pastor Elizaphan went to see mayor Charles Sikubwabo early in the morning and fetched him from home, only to be told that the mayor could do nothing. "It was the most painful message he had ever had," said Clark.

Then, according to the lawyer, Elizaphan "sped" back to Mugonero and wrote out a message to the pastors who had asked for his help "to say that he had done so". "He told them the burgomaster (mayor) could do nothing, that they must act to save themselves and quoted from the Scripture," said Clark. But by that time, he continued, there were "large angry crowds" in Mugonero and the pastor could not reach the Tutsi pastors. He gave the hand-written note to a gendarme to deliver, according to Clark.

After that he was warned his life was in danger and left for nearby Gishyita. He, his wife, Gerard and those with them "were chased, stoned and had things thrown at them", Clark told the court. They went to Gishyita, where they stayed until April 27th, according to the defence, then returned to Mugonero and the devastation there.

Clark said his client remained in Mugonero until July 17th, trying to do what he could, but was never in the nearby Bisesero hills. According to the prosecution, the father and son also helped to track and kill Tutsis who had taken refuge in Bisesero.

False testimony?

Clark said it was clear from prosecution witness statements that they would contradict the defendants' version of events and that "we have to ask why this could happen". He suggested that there were many possible reasons, in the context of a continuing conflict that had extended into the Democratic Republic of Congo, and which was, in his eyes, a political power struggle.

"You can understand the passions that still drive people," he told the court, "those who are seeking power, seeking to consolidate and maintain their positions or to rewrite (history) as essential to their standing in the international community." He said that the genocide trials in Rwanda and Arusha were "the main point of struggle for writing the fiction that they want history to agree upon".

He said some might be seeking favours or advantages by giving false testimony, while "there will be some with hatred because of past injustices or racism. Then there is the great problem of the oral tradition: people come to believe that they have lived, experienced and were present at something when they themselves have only heard about it".

Clark said that some witnesses might also think they saw things they did not, because of the turbulence they were going through at the time, or because they wanted to believe them.

"Apparently some are angry at the survivors," he continued, "because they survived, and people want to believe they could have saved others." But, he said, "who did the Belgians save? Who did the French save? Who did my own government which could have made a difference save? How does one lonely pastor respected perhaps stop the whirlwind?"

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

JC/PHD/FH (NK_0918F)

SEPTEMBER 18th 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

RWANDA TRIBUNAL STARTS GENOCIDE TRIAL OF PASTOR AND SON

Arusha, September 18th, 2001 (FH) - As a seventh trial on Tuesday opened at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the Prosecutor presented a chilling picture of how a clergyman and his doctor son allegedly delivered thousands to their deaths during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Seventh Day Adventist Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard are charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

"The Ntakirutimanas will have you believe that in times of danger, they opened up their church and hospital as a sanctuary for Tutsi under attack," prosecutor Charles Phillips of Nigeria told the court. "But the testimony of the witnesses you will hear describes them, rather, as predators, who delivered thousands to their deaths and actually committed murders themselves. Elizaphan and Gerard Ntakirutimana were not helpless witnesses of genocide, rather, they were participants with blood on their hands."

Prosecution alleged that Elizaphan allowed Tutsi clergy and parishioners to be murdered as they prayed in church, while Gerard denied medical treatment, food and water to Tutsi refugees whom he crammed into a basement.

Dressed in dark jackets, white shirts and ties, the grey-haired pastor and his bespectacled son showed little emotion as they sat flanked by their lawyers. They have pleaded not guilty. Elizaphan is defended by former US Attorney General Ramsay Clark, and Gerard by Edward Medvene, also of the US.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church in Mugonero complex in Kibuye, western Rwanda. Gérard was a doctor at the infirmary, which lay in the same complex.

At the beginning of the genocide Elizaphan allegedly lured refugees to the church and hospital with the promise of safety. According to the ICTR Prosecutor, Gérard then separated Hutus from Tutsis and told the Tutsis to stay.

On April 16th, 1994, a large convoy of attackers came to Mugonero and massacred hundreds of the refugees. Elizaphan and Gérard are said to have been part of the convoy.

"Both Elizaphan and Gerard Ntakirutimana had arrived at the complex shortly before the attacks, with gendarmes, Interahamwe (Hutu militia) and other civilians armed to the teeth and ready to fight," Philips said. "Together they inflicted unimaginable pain in a slaughter, which lasted well into the night.

"Dressed in his customary suit and tie, Pastor Ntakirutimana watched as people were shot or beaten to death, encouraging the killers to ensure that no one survived. His son, Gerard Ntakirutimana, took a more active role in the attacks."

Philips said a prosecution witness would testify to Gérard's presence during the rape of three women inside Mugonero hospital on April 16th, and that two witnesses saw him kill the hospital accountant. He described the pastor as a prominent member of the community with considerable means, saying witnesses were "aware of Elizaphan Ntakirutimana's closeness and friendship with government officials and wealthy businessman who were responsible for the killings already taking place in Kibuye".

About 5,000 people were killed in Mugonero complex on April 16th, 1994, according to the prosecution. This included at least 50 Adventist pastors killed together with their families. Seven Tutsi pastors who had got wind of the upcoming attack wrote an appeal to Pastor Ntakirutimana the previous day. A line from this letter, "We wish to inform you that we have heard tomorrow we will be killed with our families", was used by American journalist Philip Gourevitch as the title of a book about Rwanda.

"Pastor Ntakirutimana's response was contained in a brief, heartless letter," said Philips, "which stated 'there's nothing I can do for you. All you can do is prepare to die because your time has come', or words to that effect."

Church involvement

"The church hierarchies were at best useless and at worst accomplices in the genocide," Philips told the court. "This must be seen in the context of a long history of political compromise. The church went hand in hand with the politics of Habyarimana (former Hutu president whose death on April 6th, 1994, sparked the genocide).

"Inside Rwanda, more than 90% of the population were baptized Christians (65% Catholics, 20% Protestant and about 5% Adventist)," Philips continued. "Except for the government itself, the Catholic Church was the most influential and powerful institution in Rwanda right up to the office of the President.

"The failure of the churches in Rwanda to take a collective stand against the genocide and the overwhelming evidence of the direct participation of many clergy is one of the most disturbing aspects of what is universally considered to have been among the worst crimes against humanity in the 20th century."

Elizaphan, now aged 77, is one of a number of clergymen to have been indicted by the ICTR for their alleged role in the genocide. He is the first to go on trial but, according to Tribunal spokesman Kingsley Moghalu, "by no means the last". Also in custody is Anglican bishop Samuel Musabyimana, while a former catholic military chaplain was arrested in Switzerland in July at the Tribunal's request, and a catholic priest is wanted in Italy.

The joint trial of the Ntakirutimanas brings to seven the number of trials alternating before the ICTR's three trial chambers, and to seventeen the number of accused persons on trial. Philips said the Prosecutor intends to call 21 protected witnesses in this case, plus two investigators and one expert witness. The expert will be Canadian journalist Hugh McCullum. Philips said he expected that the prosecution case could be completed "within 6-7 weeks".

Defence lawyers are expected to make their opening statement later in the day. The first prosecution witness, ICTR investigator Upendra Bhagel of India, meanwhile began his testimony.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

JC/PHD/FH (NK_0918T)

SEPTEMBER 17th 2001

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

CLERGYMAN AND HIS SON TO GO ON TRIAL FOR GENOCIDE

Arusha, September 17th, 2001 (FH) A Seventh Day Adventist pastor and his son are on Tuesday expected to go on trial for genocide before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gérard, a medical doctor, are accused of using their positions to help massacre Tutsis in the Kibuye region of western Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.

Elizaphan, now aged 77, is one of a number of clergymen to have been indicted by the ICTR for their alleged role in the genocide. He is the first to go on trial but, according to Tribunal spokesman Kingsley Moghalu, "by no means the last". Also in custody is Anglican bishop Samuel Musabyimana, while a former catholic military chaplain was arrested in Switzerland in July at the Tribunal's request, and a catholic priest is wanted in Italy.

The joint trial of the Ntakirutimanas will bring to seven the number of trials alternating before the ICTR's three trial chambers, and to seventeen the number of accused persons on trial.

Gérard was arrested in Côte d'Ivoire in October 1996 and transferred to Tribunal custody the following month. His father was arrested in Texas, US, also in September 1996 but then ensued a long legal battle against extradition, led by Elizaphan's lawyer, former US Attorney General Ramsay Clark. The pastor was released fourteen months later, but the US State Department petitioned the release and he was re-arrested in February 1998. It was not until March 2000 that Elizaphan joined his son in the UN Detention Facility (UNDF) in Arusha, after Clark had taken the case to the US Supreme Court and lost.

At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Elizaphan was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist church in Mugonero complex in Kibuye. Gérard was a doctor at the infirmary which lay in the same complex.

At the beginning of the genocide Elizaphan allegedly lured refugees to the church and hospital with the promise of safety. According to the ICTR Prosecutor, Gérard then separated Hutus from Tutsis and told the Tutsis to stay. On April 16th, 1994, a large convoy of attackers came to Mugonero and massacred hundreds of the refugees. Elizaphan and Gérard are said to have been part of the convoy.

The indictment says that survivors of the Mugonero massacre fled to surrounding places in the mountainous Bisesero region but were subsequently hunted down and killed by people including the Ntakirutimanas. Elizaphan allegedly went to a church in Murambi where many Tutsi refugees were hiding and ordered that the roof be destroyed.

Elizaphan and Gérard face five counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions (war crimes). ICTR Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte of Switzerland is expected to be in court for the start of trial, which will be preceded by a status conference on Monday.

The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Erik Mose of Norway (presiding), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and new judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.

JC/PHD/FH (NK_0917E)

APRIL 2nd, 2001
___________________________________________________________________
ICTR/ NTAKIRUTIMANAS

NTAKIRUTIMANA DEFENCE SAYS UN TRIBUNALS ARE ILLEGAL

Arusha, April 2nd, 2001 (FH) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday dismissed a defence motion challenging the legality of the Tribunal's creation.

Defence counsels for genocide suspects Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerald suggested that the Tribunal had been illegally formed by the UN Security Council. "The Charter of the United Nations does not empower the Security Council to establish any criminal court," said counsel for Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Ramsey Clark of the US.

The court threw out the motion, citing previous decisions on motions challenging the jurisdiction of the UN's two ad hoc tribunals (Kanyabashi case at the ICTR and Tadic at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia). The judges said that the ICTR had been legally created by the UN Security Council and endorsed by the General Assembly.

Defence for Ntakirutimana and his son were granted a request to have a copy of the so-called Hourigan memorandum related to the shooting down of former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana's plane that sparked the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The document, written by a former ICTR investigator (Michael Hourigan) suggests that the shooting down of the 'plane may have been the work of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) now in power in Kigali, rather than of extremist Hutus in the former regime.

The contents of the memorandum have been published in the press, but the ICTR treats it as a confidential document. "We believe that it is the RPF that shot down the plane, and this has a great bearing on alleged genocidal intent by our clients," Gerald Ntakirutimana's American lawyer Edward Medvene told the court.

Medvene also said he feared his client's trial would not be fair because it was difficult to access defence witnesses inside Rwanda. "We have never dreamed of talking to witnesses in Rwanda because I'm aware of the enormous risk it would pose to their lives," Medvene told the court.

The court postponed the start of trial until September 17th, at the request of the defence. It had originally been scheduled for January this year, then put back to April 23rd. Medevene argued his wife's health problems, the difficulty of carrying out investigations, and the fact that neither lawyer yet has a co-counsel.

Prosecution is expected to present 53 witnesses to support its case. The trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of judges Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardena of Sri Lanka (presiding in this case), Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Erik Mose of Norway.

GG/JC/FH (NK_0402e)



NOVEMBER 2nd 2000

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

FATHER AND SON TO GO ON TRIAL IN APRIL

Arusha, November 2nd, 2000 (FH) - The trial of former Rwandan pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gérard for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide is set to start on April 23rd, 2001, before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Gérard Ntakirutimana, a former medical doctor, on Thursday pleaded not-guilty to an amended indictment which stresses his command responsibility in killings at a hospital.

Reliable sources said the parties agreed the trial date in a closed session, after the defense asked for a postponement of the provisional January date. After a year of holding only one trial, the ICTR has recently started three new trials: the so-called media and Cyangugu trials and that of former Rwandan mayor Laurent Semanza. That of former mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli is scheduled to start on January 22nd, and of former Information Minister Eliezer Niyitegeka the following month.

The two Ntakirutimanas are accused of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions on war crimes. They are accused of planning and carrying out massacres of Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex in Kibuye prefecture, western Rwanda, and in the mountainous Bisesero region, also in Kibuye. The Mugonero complex included the Seventh Day Adventist church of which Elizaphan was pastor, and a hospital where Gérard was a senior doctor.

The accused are charged jointly in two indictments, which charge them separately for events in Mugonero and Bisesero. The Mugonero indictment also includes the name of former mayor of Gishyita (Kibuye prefecture) Charles Sikubwabo who is still on the run.

Nigerian prosecutor Charles Philips said that if Sikubwabo is still on the run as trial approaches, his team will ask for his severance and proceed with the trial. On Thursday, the prosecution made an oral request to lead the case on the basis of the two indictments. The court had earlier rejected a request to merge them, after the defense argued against.

"It was a mistake to have two indictments," Philips told Hirondelle. "It gives the impression that they are separate events when they are not, because the indictment itself clearly states that those who survived the Mugonero attack fled to Bisesero." He said that while this prosecution team had tried to rectify the mistake of its predecessors, it would not be a big problem to proceed on the basis of the two indictments.

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is defended by former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark and Gérard by another prominent American lawyer, Edward Medvene. Gérard Ntakirutimana was arrested in Côte d'Ivoire on October 1996 and transferred to the ICTR prison in Arusha, Tanzania, the following month. His father was first arrested in the US in September 1996, released and re-arrested in February 1998. After a long court battle against transfer, he was finally sent to Arusha on March 24th this year.

JC/FH (NK%1102e)


APRIL 3rd 2000

ICTR / NTAKIRUTIMANA

FORMER RWANDAN PASTOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY

Arusha, April 3rd, 2000 (FH) - Former Rwandan pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana last Friday pleaded not-guilty to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during an initial appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is charged under two separate indictments relating to massacres of Tutsis in Mugonero and the neighbouring Bisesero region (Kibuye prefecture, western Rwanda). On one indictment, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is jointly accused with his son Gérard who is also being held by the ICTR in Arusha. On the second one he is charged with his son and the former mayor of Gishyita Charles Sikubwabo who is still on the run.

The charges include genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions on war crimes.

The Ntakirutimanas are accused of organizing and participating in an attack on April 16th on Tutsi refugees in the Mugonero complex, which included a church and an infirmary hospital. They are also charged with attacks in April through June 1994 in Bisesero, where Tutsi refugees had fled.

"At one point during this period," says the prosecution, "Elizaphan Ntakirutimana was in Murambi within Bisesero. [He] went to a church located in Murambi where many Tutsis were seeking refuge from the ongoing massacres. Elizaphan Ntakirutimana ordered the attackers to destroy the roof of the church so that it could no longer be used as a hiding place for the Tutsis."

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 76, was born in Ngoma sector, Gishyita commune in Kibuye prefecture. At the time of the genocide in Rwanda, he was pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Mugonero.

The accused was first arrested in the US on September 29th, 1996, then released after 14 months in detention. He was arrested again on February 26th, 1998 in Texas, where he was living. Pastor Ntakirutimana arrived in the UN detention facility in Arusha on March 24th, after losing a long battle in the US courts against his transfer.

Nigerian prosecutor Charles-Adeogun Philips said the prosecution was planning to combine the two indictments into one.

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana was represented by a Tanzanian duty counsel. He had asked to be defended by the former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, who handled his battle with the US courts.

AT/ JC/FH (NK%0403e )

JANUARY 25th 2000

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

RWANDA TRIBUNAL WELCOMES US COURT RULING ON GENOCIDE SUSPECT

Arusha, January 25th 2000 (FH) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday welcomed a US Supreme Court ruling that should clear the way for extradition proceedings against former Rwandan pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana.

"We are very happy at this decision," Tribunal spokesman Kingsley Moghalu told Hirondelle, "and we believe it clears the way for his extradition to the ICTR."

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request that it review a circuit court ruling that the United States can extradite Ntakirutimana. This should clear the way for actual extradition proceedings. However, informed sources say the next step requires a decision from US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"The State Department has informed the Tribunal of the Supreme Court ruling," Moghalu said. "In the event that, as we expect, the Secretary of State approves the extradition, we will go into discussions with them on how to effect Ntakiruitmana's transfer to Arusha."

Ntakirutimana, a former Seventh Day Adventist preacher, is wanted by the ICTR on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Conventions on war crimes. He was arrested in Texas on September 26th, 1996, but has been fighting a long legal battle against extradition.

Mogahlu said, however, that the ICTR had never doubted the support of the administration in Washington. "We have never doubted the will and the cooperation of the government of the United States with regard to extraditing Ntakirutimana," he said. "In fact it is they that have been bringing all the necessary legal moves."

Ntakirutimana now looks likely to join his son Gérard, a medical doctor, in the ICTR prison in Arusha. The two are jointly charged along with businessman Obed Ruzindana and former mayor of Gishyita Charles Sikubwabo.

All four are accused of conspiring to round up and kill ethnic Tutsis in the Kibuye prefecture of western Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, which left up to one million people dead. At the time of the genocide, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana was preacher at Mugonero Seventh Day Adventist church in Gishyita commune, Kibuye prefecture.
JC/FH (NK%0125e)


JANUARY 25th 2000

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

US COURT RULING CLEARS WAY FOR RWANDAN PASTOR'S EXTRADITION

Arusha, January 25th, 2000 (FH) - A ruling by the US Supreme Court has cleared the way for extradition proceedings against former Rwandan pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, who is wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on genocide charges.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request that it review a circuit court ruling that the United States can extradite Ntakirutimana. Sources in the US say this means Washington can finally launch the actual extradition proceedings to deliver the suspect to the ICTR's detention facilities in Arusha, Tanzania. He is currently being held in Texas.

Ntakirutimana, a former Seventh Day Adventist preacher, is wanted by the ICTR on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Conventions on war crimes. He was arrested in Texas on September 26th, 1996, but has been fighting a long legal battle against extradition..

Former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark has fought the case on the basis that the US does not have an extradition treaty with the UN and that the law passed by Congress to allow extradition was unconstituitonal.

On August 5th, however, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the preacher should be extradited. It made the decision on an appeal from the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Clark's attempt to take the case to the Supreme Court has now failed. It is not yet known how long extradition and transfer proceedings will take, but the preacher looks set to join his son Gérard, a medical doctor, in the ICTR prison in Arusha. The two are jointly charged along with businessman Obed Ruzindana and former mayor of Gishyita Charles Sikubwabo.

All four are accused of conspiring to round up and kill ethnic Tutsis in the Kibuye prefecture of western Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, which left up to one million people dead. At the time of the genocide, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana was preacher at Mugonero Seventh Day Adventist church in Gishyita commune, Kibuye prefecture.

JC/FH (NK%0125e)



AUGUST 12th 1999

ICTR/NTAKIRUTIMANA

US COURT SAYS RWANDAN PREACHER SHOULD BE EXTRADITED

Arusha, August 12th '99 (FH) - A US court has ruled that genocide suspect Elizaphan Ntakirutimana should be extradited to stand trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). But the suspect's defence counsel Ramsey Clark says he plans further legal moves to stop the extradition, the independant press agency Hirondelle reported on Thursday.

Ntakirutimana, a Seventh Day Adventist preacher, is wanted by the ICTR on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Conventions on war crimes. He was arrested in Texas on September 26th, 1996, but his legal battle against extradition has been successful up to now.

Former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark has fought the case on the basis that the US does not have an extradition treaty with the UN and that the law passed by Congress to allow extradition was unconstituitonal.

On August 5th, however, the US Court of Appeals for the fifth Circuit found that the preacher should be extradited. It made the decision on an appeal from the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In a telephone interview from the US, Clark said the ruling would certainly require Ntakirutimana to surrender to the ICTR "if it's the last word of the law". But he said he planned to take the case to the US Supreme Court, and to file a stay of execution on Ntakirutimana's transfer until his case had had a chance to be heard there. If the Supreme Court agrees to review the case, that could take another year.

If, however, Clark's strategy fails, the preacher will join his son Gérard, a medical doctor, in the ICTR detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania. The two are jointly charged along with businessman Obed Ruzindana and former mayor of Gishyita Charles Sikubwabo.

All four are accused of conspiring to round up and kill ethnic Tutsis in the Kibuye prefecture of western Rwanda during the 1994 genocide which left up to one million people dead. At the time of the genocide, Elizapaphan Ntakirutimana was preacher at Mugonero Seventh Day Adventist church in Gishyita commune, Kibuye prefecture.

JC/FH (NK§0812e)

The ICTR on-line
Trials & Detainees
IDTA - The project
French section
Kinyarwandan section



FR EN DE
Fondation Hirondelle - Avenue du Temple 19c - CH 1012 Lausanne - Tel + 41 21 654 20 20 - Fax + 41 21 654 20 21 - info@hirondelle.org