JULY 4th, 2001
___________________________________________________________________ ICTR/ KAJELIJELI KAJELIJELI WAS WRONGFULLY ARRESTED, SAYS DEFENCE Arusha, July 4th, 2001 (FH) - Former Rwandan mayor and genocide suspect Juvénal Kajelijeli was a "side kick and a man the prosecution had not issued a warrant of arrest for," his defence lawyer maintained in an opening statement to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesday. Defence counsel Lennox Hinds of the US told the ICTR’s Trial Chamber Two that Kajelijeli had been arrested just because he happened to be in the house of a suspect for whom a warrant had been issued. He was referring to another ICTR detainee, former President of the National Assembly in Rwanda, Joseph Nzirorera. Hinds was speaking as the trial of the former mayor finally restarted before the recomposed court, after being postponed twice on Monday and Tuesday. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo, in the northwest Rwandan prefecture of Ruhengeri. He is charged with eleven counts including genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions (war crimes). Hinds told the court that Kajelijeli was mayor for only three weeks during the 1994 events and that the prosecution had alleged his guilt by association. He added that Kajelijeli fled the country, as did other refugees, to the Congo, Congo Brazzaville and finally to Benin. "A set of unfortunate circumstances evolved that led us to this place (the Tribunal)," said Hinds. The lawyer told the court that Kajelijeli was living in the house of a friend, Nzirorera, and when Nzirorera was being arrested, his client was arrested too. "Prosecution admits they had no warrant, they didn't even know who he was. Guilt by association is not the standard of this Tribunal,” said Hinds, “Being in the home of a suspect at the time of his arrest is not the standard." Hinds claimed that after arresting Kajelijeli, the prosecution had to find a reason to hold him and that is why none of the witnesses had been interviewed before Kajelijeli's arrest. He stressed that none of the 15 prosecution witnesses scheduled to testify made any statements before Kajelijeli's arrest in 1998. All statements were made at least 30 days after his arrest, said Hinds. "It is apparently clear that prosecution had no information on him except for what they had when they swept across Africa making arrests of suspects," said Hinds. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time," he added. "We are all of us involved in a whole new area of jurisprudence and the whole world is watching us. We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants is the record on which history will judge us," said Hinds. "To pass this defendant a poison chalice is to put it on our lips." "Prosecution misled authorities in Benin, misled the Trial Chamber and passed Kajelijeli the poison chalice," Hinds told the court. SW/JC/MBR/FH (KJ_0704f)
___________________________________________________________________ ICTR/ KAJELIJELI TRIAL OF FORMER RWANDAN MAYOR RESTARTS Arusha, July 4th, 2001 (FH) - The trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli finally restarted on Wednesday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), with prosecutor Kenneth Fleming of Australia describing the accused as someone who "had untold power in a small part of Rwanda and ran rampant with that power", destroying many lives. Prosecution plans to bring fifteen witnesses to back eleven charges against Kajelijeli of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. "Mr. Kajelijeli is before this Tribunal because the crimes with which he is charged are of such gravity and appalling dimension that he ought to be before a tribunal of this sort," Fleming told the court in his opening statement. The prosecutor said these were "charges which transcend the interests of a particular group or nation. They extract from the whole international community a sense of outrage. They are of such gravity that the world says this is an issue that belongs to the whole human race". Fleming said the ICTR was part of a "new era" of international justice, along with the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. "Perhaps the procedure sometimes seems slow and expensive," Fleming continued, but he urged patience in the pursuit of developing that international justice. He also promised that in Kajelijeli's trial: "We will endeavour to present no evidence that has no probative value. Your Honours will have a trial which will proceed in the most efficient manner possible." This is the second time Fleming has made an opening statement in the case. The trial was officially started in March this year, but was postponed after the opening statement and the testimony of one witness. Since then, Trial Chamber Two which is hearing the case has been recomposed with two new judges. On Monday the parties agreed to start proceedings again, but were unable to start immediately because of defence team problems. At the time of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo, in the northwest Rwandan prefecture of Ruhengeri. The charges against him include genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions (war crimes). Fleming told the judges that "within 12 hours" of the shooting down of former president Juvénal Habyarimana's 'plane on April 6th, Kajelijeli "had his troops mobilized", telling them to exterminate the Tutsis and to "go home and get your uniforms, we have work to do". The killings started immediately, Fleming said. He said that in the days that followed, Kajelijeli distributed arms and supervised roadblocks to make sure that the "work" of killing Tutsis was being done efficiently. Fleming alleged that Kajelijeli was able to mobilize large numbers of Interahamwe militia. Witnesses would testify, he said, that after receiving Kajelijeli's orders, the Interahamwe would go off singing "let's exterminate them, let's exterminate them". On the conspiracy charge, Fleming said the prosecution would prove beyond reasonable doubt that Kajelijeli was the right-hand man of Joseph Nzirorera, Secretary-General of the former presidential party MRND, and that Kajelijeli conspired with Nzirorera and others to commit genocide. Kajelijeli is also charged with rape, both as a crime against humanity and as a war crime. Fleming told the court one mother had testified that she and her children were hiding from the Interahamwe when she heard Kajelijeli order the militiamen to "search for the girls, rape them and kill them afterwards". He said she would testify that she saw her fifteen-year-old daughter being raped by Interahamwe. Fleming quoted the mother as having testified that "when they were raping my daughter, she cried out for help. Maybe that is why the other group [of Interhamwe] found us". The case is before Trial Chamber Two, composed of Judge William Sekule of Tanzania (presiding), Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar and Winston Churchill Matanzima Maqutu of Lesotho. JC/MBR/FH (KJ_0704e)
___________________________________________________________________ ICTR/ KAJELIJELI KAJELIJELI TRIAL ADJOURNED YET AGAIN Arusha, July 3rd 2001 (FH) - The restart of the trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli was postponed yet again, on Tuesday, at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). On Monday, Kajelijeli's American defence counsel Lennox Hinds told the court he had problems communicating with his French-speaking client and his co-counsel, because their bilingual investigator was held up in Zimbabwe with visa problems. The court granted the lawyer's request for 24 hours within which he would try to resolve the problem. On Tuesday, he told the court that he had found "someone to help with translation". "That person is agreeable with my client, who trusts that confidentiality will be ensured," Hinds continued. He said that the defence would be able to proceed with the case Wednesday morning. The court granted an adjournment but stressed that "trial will have to start tomorrow (Wednesday)". Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo, in the northwest Rwandan prefecture of Ruhengeri, during the 1994 genocide. He is charged with eleven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The trial started on March 13th this year but has to be restarted because the Trial Chamber has been recomposed after the death in May of former presiding judge Laity Kama of Senegal and the appointment of two new judges to the ICTR. The recomposed Trial Chamber Two, hearing the case, is composed of Judge William Sekule of Tanzania (presiding) and new judges Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar and Winston Churchill Matanzima Maqutu of Lesotho. Hinds asked that the Chamber grant a status conference to discuss various matters. He said he had been granted sabbatical leave to deal with the case "in six months" and did not want to "come to Arusha in July only to have to come back in September". But lead prosecuting attorney Ken Fleming of Australia said that Hinds was being "very presumptuous". "At no time has it been said by this Trial Chamber that the case would start and run through," he added. Kajelijeli's case is due to alternate with two others before Trial Chamber Two. Fleming said the court had granted Hinds requests at his convenience but that he (Hinds) was not considering that the Chamber had other business. "There seems not be any sign from my learned friend (Hinds) to commence this trial," said Fleming. Hinds, however, maintained that "my interest is in moving forward this case". Presiding Judge Sekule advised the parties to prepare for a status conference for Friday and adjourned the proceedings to Wednesday morning when the trial is expected to start. SW/MBR/FH (KJ_0703e)
JULY 2nd, 2001
___________________________________________________________________ ICTR/ KAJELIJELI KAJELIJELI TRIAL TO RESTART TUESDAY Arusha, July 2nd 2001 (FH) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has postponed until Tuesday the restart of trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli, after Kajelijeli's defence lawyer claimed to have communication problems with his client. Defence counsel Lennox Hinds of the US said he could only communicate with his francophone client and with his co-counsel through their defence investigator, who had been held up in Harare, Zimbabwe, with visa problems. Hinds said he had only just learned of this, and asked for "twenty-four hours within which to advise this court how we could resolve the matter". Presiding judge William Sekule of Tanzania said the court agreed to adjourn until Tuesday morning and "from there we will see how we move". The trial started on March 13th this year, with the Prosecutor's opening statement and the testimony of one expert witness, ICTR investigator Antonius Maria Tony Lucassen of the Netherlands. However, the Trial Chamber has been recomposed after the death in May of former presiding judge Laity Kama of Senegal and the appointment of two new judges to the Tribunal. The recomposed Trial Chamber Two, hearing the case, is composed of Judge Sekule (presiding) and new judges Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar and Winston Churchill Matanzima Maqutu of Lesotho. ICTR Rules require the consent of the accused if trial is to be continued after the replacement of a judge. Asked what the defence elected to do, Hinds replied that there were now two new judges who knew nothing about the case, that the trial had not proceeded very far and that "Mr Kajelijeli believes it is in his best interests and in the interests of justice that this new Trial Chamber, as composed, should hear the case from the beginning". Prosecutor Kenneth Fleming also expressed the view that this was the safest way to proceed, given the fact that the Chamber had not just one but two new judges. "The wisest precaution, given difficulties with the Rule, is to start again," said Fleming. Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo, in the northwest Rwandan prefecture of Ruhengeri, during the 1994 genocide. He is charged with eleven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In his opening statement in March, Fleming said his team would bring fifteen witnesses to prove that the accused had played a leading role in killings in and around Mukingo. He said the witnesses would include a mother who had seen her 15-year-old daughter raped at Kajelijeli's command. JC/MBR/FH (KJ_0702e)
___________________________________________________________________ ICTR/KAJELIJELI FORMER MAYOR'S TRIAL POSTPONED TO JULY 2nd Arusha, March 15th, 2001 (FH) The trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli, which started on Tuesday, has been postponed to July 2nd. Presiding judge Laity Kama of Senegal said this was to allow the suspect's bilingual co-counsel to be present, as had been agreed between the parties. Kajelijeli's case was originally due to start in January but was postponed to this week because of a defence request for more time and a prosecution request to amend the indictment. Kajelijeli's US lawyer Lennox Hinds argued that his co-counsel Richard Harvey was unavailable and that he himself needed time to sort out problems at his law firm. Harvey is currently involved in the Bloody Sunday inquiry in Northern Ireland. He speaks English and French, which is more easily understood by the accused. Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo, in the northwest Rwandan prefecture of Ruhengeri, during the 1994 genocide. He is charged with eleven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In his opening statement on Tuesday, prosecutor Ken Fleming of Australia said his team would bring fifteen witnesses to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had played a leading role in killings in and around Mukingo. He said the witnesses would include a mother who had seen her 15-year-old daughter raped at Kajelijeli's command. On Wednesday morning, the court heard prosecution investigator Antonius Maria Tony Lucassen of the Netherlands, who appeared as an expert witness for the prosecution. Lucassen presented a series of photographs and maps of sites where the alleged crimes were committed. Defence lawyer Hinds asked that the name of Joseph Nzirorera, former Secretary-General of the then-presidential party MRND be struck from the documents, because his client was not being tried with Nzirorera. He also asked that the investigator's comments be struck from the record because they were based on hearsay. The court threw out his motion. The charges against Kajelijeli include conspiracy to commit genocide. Prosecutor Fleming said witnesses would testify that the accused was "Nzirorera's right-hand man". Photos presented by Lucassen included one of Nzirorera's house. Kajelijeli was arrested in Cotonou, Benin, on June 5th, 1998. His case is being heard by Trial Chamber Two of the ICTR, composed of Judges Laïty Kama of Senegal (presiding), William H. Sekule of Tanzania and Mehmet Güney of Turkey. This is the first trial to open before this Chamber for nearly two years. JC/MBR/FH (KJ_0315e)
ICTR/KAJELIJELI TRIAL OF FORMER MAYOR OFFICIALLY OPENED Arusha, March 13th, 2001 (FH) The trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli formally opened Tuesday before Trial Chamber Two of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). In an opening statement, the prosecution told the court it planned to bring fifteen witnesses "over a short period of time" to back eleven genocide-related charges against the accused. "This case is about three horrifying days in Ruhengeri, northern Rwanda, which was the stronghold of President Habyarimana," prosecutor Ken Fleming told the court. "The presidential 'plane was shot down on the evening of April 6th, 1994. On April 7th there began a series of massacres early in the morning […] Our evidence will include that very early in the morning, a group was formed by the accused, within perhaps 10 hours of the shooting down of the 'plane. […] He gathered together a group of young men, the Interahamwe, which was the youth wing of the presidential party MRND. He took them back to his home and said 'go and kill, exterminate the Tutsis'." Fleming described the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus that followed Habyarimana's death as "one of the most barbaric episodes in the history of modern man". He said the prosecution would bring evidence to show how Kajelijeli played a leading role in the massacres in his Mukingo commune (Ruhengeri prefecture) and neighbouring areas. After rounding up the Interahmwe in the early morning of April 7th, Fleming said, Kajelijeli "then went out in his red pickup truck, which was seen by many witnesses" and supervised a massacre at the homes of two Tutsi families. "Eighty people lived there and two survived," Fleming told the court. "We have witnesses from outside and inside the house, the two survivors. We have witnesses who participated in the killing and have confessed. They saw the accused drive up. They [the Tutsis] were rounded up like sheep. When they were gathered in one place at one time, with no weapons, the cowardly killing commenced." Fleming said the killers used "kalashnikovs, grenades, cudgels with nails, and anything else they could lay their hands on to kill". The accused is charged with conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, direct and public incitement to genocide, serious violations of the Geneva Conventions (war crimes) and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture. Fleming alleged that Kajelijeli had "specific intention to kill" because he told Interahamwe to go and kill Tutsis, because there was an explosion of violence in his area in the days following the 'plane crash, and because "the accused was able to mobilize about 600 uniformed, trained and armed men to go on a killing spree". He said prosecution witnesses would testify that the Interahamwe would sing "let's exterminate them, let's exterminate them", and that this was also proof of intent to kill Tutsis. On the conspiracy charge, Fleming said the prosecution would prove beyond reasonable doubt that Kajelijeli was the "right-hand man" of Joseph Nzirorera, Secretary-General of the MRND, and that Kajelijeli conspired with Nzirorera and others to commit genocide. "In fact, we will lead evidence that if you wished to have an interview with Nzirorera, you had to go through Kajelijeli to get there," he told the court. "Rape appears in a couple of different places in the indictment," prosecutor Fleming continued. "We are also concerned with crimes against humanity, which is to do with human suffering. That can relate not only to people who underwent physical violence themselves, but also mental anguish watching things happen." The prosecutor said, for example, one mother had testified that she and her children were hiding from the Interahamwe when she heard Kajelijeli order the militiamen to "search for the girls, rape them and kill them afterwards". He said she would testify that she saw her fifteen-year-old daughter being raped by Interahamwe. Fleming quoted the mother as having testified that "when they were raping my daughter, she cried out for help. Maybe that is why the other group [of Interhamwe] found us". The prosecutor also told the court that "there will be other evidence of rape and the inhuman suffering some of these people witnessed". After this opening statement, the court heard testimony from a prosecution investigator appearing as an expert witness. However, cross-examination was then postponed to Wednesday, as defence counsel Lennox Hinds of the US said he needed more time to prepare. He had earlier complained that documents and photographs presented by the witness were given to him at the last moment. Kajelijeli's trial was originally scheduled to open in January this year, but was postponed to March 12th following a defence request for more time to prepare the case, and a prosecution motion to amend the indictment. Trial Chamber Two sat Monday for the start of trial but first had to hear and decide on a defence motion challenging the jurisdiction of the ICTR to try the accused. This was rejected. Last January, defence counsel Hinds said he was not ready for trial because his bilingual co-counsel was tied up on another case and he himself needed time to sort out problems at his US law firm. He told the court the defence team would not be ready until July. Many observers expect the trial to be suspended shortly, until at least June. Trial Chamber Two has not conducted a trial for nearly two years, although it has heard pre-trial motions for pending cases. The Chamber is composed of judges Laity Kama of Senegal (presiding), William Sekule of Tanzania and Mehmet Güney of Turkey. JC/PHD/FH (KJ_0313e)
FEBRUARY 8th 2001
___________________________________________________________________ ICTR/ CALENDAR RWANDA TRIBUNAL SETS DATES FOR NEW TRIALS Arusha, February 8th, 2001 (FH) Three new trials are due to start shortly before Trial Chamber Two of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the president of the Chamber told Hirondelle on Thursday. Judge Laity Kama of Senegal said that the trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli would start on March 12th, the “Butare Trial” of six accused on May 14th and that of former Rwandan minister Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda in April. Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo (Ruhengeri prefecture, northern Rwanda) during the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. He was originally due to be tried along with seven other former Rwandan officials, but the court granted severance (right to a separate trial) and ordered that the prosecution draft a separate indictment on the basis of the original one. In December, it upheld defence objections that the proposed separate indictment contained new allegations, especially on rape and incitement. The Prosecutor was ordered to redraft the indictment and a trial date was set for January 22nd. However, the prosecution presented a last-minute request to amend the indictment and the former mayor’s lead defence counsel threatened to withdraw from the case, despite possible sanctions, if he were forced to go ahead on the date set. US attorney Lennox Hinds pleaded exceptional circumstances which included not only the behaviour of the prosecution but also troubles at his law firm in the US and the fact that his bilingual co-counsel is tied up until mid-year on another case. The Chamber granted the Prosecutor’s amendment request whilst strongly reprimanding the prosecution team for its conduct. On January 26th, Kajelijeli pleaded not-guilty to the new, amended indictment. The Butare case groups six people accused of committing genocide crimes in the southern Rwandan town of Butare in 1994. They include former Minister of Women's Development and Family Welfare Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, the only woman to have been charged with rape before an international court. The others are her son and former militia leader Arsène Ntahobali, former mayor of Ngoma Joseph Kanyabashi, former mayor of Muganza Elie Ndayambaje and two former prefects of Butare Sylvain Nsabimana and Alphonse Nteziryayo. Kamuhanda was Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the interim government that was set up at the beginning of the genocide in April 1994. He held that position from late May to mid-July the same year. Kamuhanda was arrested in the French town of Bourges on November 26th, 1999, and transferred to the ICTR detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania, on March 7th, 2000. JC/FH (CL_0208e)
ICTR/ KAJELIJELI FORMER MAYOR PLEADS NOT-GUILTY, PROSECUTION WARNED Arusha, January 26th, 2001 (FH) Former Rwandan mayor Juvenal Kajelijeli on Friday pleaded not-guilty before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to an amended indictment containing eleven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Convention (war crimes). This followed a court decision granting a prosecution motion to amend the indictment; a decision that also strongly reprimanded the prosecution for its conduct. The court said it would impose sanctions on the prosecution counsels, “were their conduct to remain ‘offensive’, or otherwise ‘abusive’ or were to ‘obstruct the proceedings’ or otherwise act ‘contrary to the interests of justice’". The court said the prosecution, in a rejected separate indictment, had knowingly attempted to amend the indictment without leave from the court. Furthermore, the court said that: "At the hearing of 12 December 2000, the Prosecutor seemed to shift the burden of responsibility for its own grossly negligent conduct on the Trial Chamber, arguing that 'we came before the court today as a result of a decision [that of July 6th, 2000 to sever the accused from his co-accused] that this court made that we did not ask for' ". The court said such conduct of the prosecution was "unacceptable" and "an obstruction”. Kajelijeli had in August 1998 also pleaded not guilty to the original joint indictment grouping him with five other former government officials. The court in July last year granted a defence motion for severance, on the grounds that a joint trial could prejudice the accused, and ordered the prosecution to draft a new indictment on the basis of the old one. The separate indictment issued in December 2000 for Kajelijeli was rejected by the court on grounds that it contained new charges not mentioned in the joint indictment, notably in relation to rape and incitement. Kajelijeli, 50, was mayor of Mukingo, in the northwest Rwandan prefecture of Ruhengeri, during the 1994 genocide. He was arrested in Cotonou, Benin, on June 5th, 1998. His case is being heard by Trial Chamber Two of the ICTR, composed of Judges Laïty Kama of Senegal (presiding), William H. Sekule of Tanzania and Mehmet Güney of Turkey. GG/JC/FH (KJ_2601e)
JANUARY 22nd 2001
ICTR/KAJELIJELI FORMER MAYOR'S GENOCIDE TRIAL DELAYED Arusha, January, 22nd, 2001 (FH) - The genocide trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvenal Kajelijeli, scheduled to start Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), has been postponed until at least March. This follows a defence request for more time to prepare the case, and a prosecution motion to amend the indictment. The court said it would decide first on the amendment request. It called the parties to a session in March where a trial date will be decided. In a motion to the court, defence counsel Lennox Hinds said he would withdraw from the case if the January 22nd date were maintained. He cited difficulties at his law firm in New York and the fact that his bilingual co-counsel Richard Harvey is temporarily unavailable because of involvement in the Bloody Sunday inquiry in Northern Ireland. Chastising prosecution for its late presentation of the amendment request, presiding judge Laity Kama of Senegal remarked that “those prosecuting sometimes have an unfortunate tendency to delay proceedings”. Prosecutor Ken Fleming argued, however, that any delays were caused by the defence, and by a court decision in December ordering the prosecution to redraft the indictment. Kajelijeli was originally due to be tried along with seven other former Rwandan officials, but the court granted severance and ordered that the prosecution draft a separate indictment on the basis of the original one. In December it upheld defence objections that the proposed separate indictment contained new allegations, specifically on rape and incitement. The prosecution’s amendment request, presented Monday, is with a view to maintaining that indictment. Prosecutor Don Webster (US/ Jamaica) told the court that “it is the same case” whether Kajelijeli were tried with seven others or on his own. He said Kajelijeli “was operating on the ground leading crowds, distributing weapons and inciting local militiamen to rape Tutsi women”. Defense counsel Hinds argued, however, that it was inappropriate for the prosecution to change an indictment confirmed over a year ago and that there were totally new allegations. Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo (Ruhengeri prefecture, northern Rwanda) during the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of an estimated 800,000 Tustsis and moderate Hutus. He is appearing before Trial Chamber Two of the ICTR, composed of judges Laity Kama of Senegal (presiding), William Sekule of Tanzania and Mehmet Güney of Turkey. GG/JC/FH (KJ_2201e)
ICTR/ KAJELIJELI TRIBUNAL INSISTS EX-MAYOR'S TRIAL MUST START, DEFENCE COUNSEL THREATENS TO QUIT Arusha, January, 16th, 2001 (FH) The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said Monday that the genocide trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli would start on January 22nd as scheduled, despite a resignation threat from the accused’s defence counsel if the date is not postponed. Defence counsel Lennox Hinds of the US was last month granted a motion ordering the prosecution to re-draft the indictment against his client, but was denied a request to postpone the trial on grounds he was not ready. On January 5th, he filed an urgent request to withdraw from the case, citing exceptional circumstances. In a letter on January 10th, the ICTR warned him that this “could possibly be construed by the Chamber as an obstruction to the course of the proceedings" and ordered him to appear in court on 22nd to present his motion. Hinds says he needs more time to reorganise his team and to organise his law firm in New York. His bilingual co-counsel Richard J. Harvey has also requested to be "temporarily" withdrawn from the case due to other commitments in Northern Ireland. Harvey has been hired to appear on behalf of the family of one of the victims in the 1972 Bloody Sunday Massacre in Northern Ireland. "Given the Tribunal's insistence to proceed on the 22nd, if that is their position, then I would request to withdraw,” Hinds told journalists at the weekend. “What I'm asking for is additional time for me to restructure and reorganise my support system so that I can produce for my client a case that is impartial. If we can reach a reasonable accommodation, I remain. If we cannot, I will not be ready for the hearing and whatever sanctions they can impose, I will deal with them.” GG/JC/FH (KJ%1601e)
ICTR/KAJELIJELI COURT ORDERS PROSECUTION TO REDRAFT INDICTMENT, UPHOLDS TIMETABLE FOR FORMER MAYOR'S TRIAL Arusha, December 12th, 2000 (FH) – The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday granted a defence motion challenging a new indictment against former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli, and ordered the prosecution to redraft it by Monday, December 18th.But the court said Kajelijeli's genocide trial should start on January 22nd, 2001, as planned, despite difficulties faced by the defence. Kajelijeli's American defence counsel earlier told the court that a new indictment served on his client violated a court order of July 6th this year, as it contained new charges. In its July decision, Trial Chamber Two granted a previous defence motion for Kajelijeli's severance and separate trial. Prosecution had planned to try him with former ministers and high level politicians, but severance was granted on the basis that such a joint trial would be prejudicial to Kajelijeli's rights. "The Chamber considers that the separate indictment did not fully comply with the Directive of July 6th," said Judge Mehmet Güney of Turkey delivering the court's decision. "The Trial Chamber holds that differences between the original and separate indictments could lead the accused to believe that new charges had been brought against him, especially charges related to events in Ruhengeri [northwest Rwanda] and allegations of rape." The judge further added that the Prosecution should file charges "in the same order and manner as the original indictment". In his motion, Hinds said the court, in its July decision, had "ordered the Prosecutor to file a separate indictment pertaining only to Mr Kajelijeli from the existing confirmed indictment" but that the Prosecutor ignored this and filed an amended indictment involving new charges. He said that he was served in August with 41 new witness statements, backing the charges. With regard to the witness statements, the court said that Prosecution had followed disclosure rules and that therefore "nothing changes" with regard to the planned date for start of trial. Hinds had further told the court that his bilingual co-counsel was engaged on another trial at present, and that his own lack of French prevented him from communicating directly with his client or conducting necessary investigations on the new witness statements in Rwanda. He asked for at least six more months to prepare for trial. When pushed by the judges, however, he conceded that he would be ready to start trial on the basis of the original indictment. The Prosecution had argued that its new indictment was "more specific" because it was directed at one man rather than a group, but that "the thrust of the allegations is the same " and that it had respected the Chamber's July order JC/FH (KJ%1212E)
ICTR/POLITICIANS RWANDA TRIBUNAL DELIVERS BLOW TO PROSECUTION JOINDER STRATEGY SEPARATE TRIAL FOR KAJELIJELI Arusha, July 11th, 2000 (FH) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has rejected prosecution requests for a joint trial of eight former Rwandan ministers. It has also also ordered that former mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli be tried on his own, rather than in a joint trial sought by the prosecution. In a decision dated July 6th, the ICTR's Trial Chamber Two denied a prosecution motion for joinder of eight ex-members of the Rwandan interim government that presided over the 1994 genocide. The ministers concerned are: Edouard Karemera (Interior), André Rwamakuba (Education), Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda (Culture and Higher Education), Eliézer Niyitegeka (Information), Casimir Bizimungu (Health), Justin Mugenzi (Commerce), Jérôme Bicamumpaka (Foreign Affairs) and Prosper Mugiraneza (Civil Service). The last four are already indicted together. The first two are indicted with former mayor Kajelijeli, former politicians Mathieu Ngirumpatse and Joseph Nzirorera, and three other genocide suspects who are still on the run. The prosecution had sought to separate Ngirumpatse, Nzirorera and Kajelijeli, who were not ministers, from the others, and to try all the ex-ministers together. However, the court already denied on June 29th a prosecution request to sever Kajelijeli, Ngirumpatse and Nzirorera, saying prosecutors had failed to show it was in the interests of justice. On July 6th, the court used similar arguments to deny severance for Karemera and Rwamakuba. It pointed out that they would first have to be severed from their current indictment if they were to be joined to the new one. "The proposed joinder cannot be effected if severance is denied," it said. "Therefore the Trial Chamber finds it unnecessary to review arguments pertaining to joinder in respect of Rwamakuba and Karemera." The court said it could not consider the case of Niyitigeka at present, for procedural reasons. It rejected the joinder of Kamuhanda, saying that "the Trial Chamber is not satisfied that the Prosecutor has shown that all of the alleged acts of Kamuhanda form part of the same transaction as all of those of the Accused Bizimungu, Mugenzi, Mugirineza and Bicamumpaka". Kamuhanda's defence counsel had argued that Kamuhanada only became a minister in the interim government on May 25th, 1994, more than a month after the genocide started on April 6th. "Many of the paragraphs in the indictment against Kamuhanda appear to be general statements that do not refer to any time period," says the judges' decision. "Some of the paragraphs refer to specific acts of Interim Government Ministers prior to 25 May 1994, and therefore refer to a time period when Kamuhanda was not a minister." The court further found that defence claims of "excessive globalization" by the Prosecutor were "of substance", and that "the Prosecutor's strategy may impinge on the rights of individual accused to a fair trial". It therefore concluded that "the proposed joinder is not in the interests of justice" and that "the requirements for joinder are not satisfied in respect of any of the accused that the Prosecutor seeks to join". As part of the same decision, the court ordered that Bicamumpaka's Canadian defence counsel Francine Veilleux should be denied payment for certain motions and requests which it considered "repetitive and frivolous". Separate trial for Kajelijeli Also on July 6th, the same court granted a defence motion to sever Kajelijeli from the other accused with whom he is indicted, and give him a separate trial. Kajelijeli's American lawyer Lennox Hinds had argued notably that the Prosecutor was trying to accuse his client of conspiracy with the others solely because he was arrested in Nzirorera's house. Trial Chamber Two said the fact that all the other co-accused were ministers and top executives of the MRND former single party "does not mean that the alleged culpability of the Accused (who only had local authority in a commune) would be lesser". But it said there were considerably fewer allegations against Kajelijeli and that "the concurrent presentation of evidence of all the co-accused in the same trial may be prejudicial to the Accused, and that such conflicts of interests constitute extraordinary circumstances that warrant a separate trial for the Accused". The court also found that a joint trial could prejudice the rights of the accused to a trial without undue delay. "For the instant case, the issue of delay is particularly pertinent," it said, "in view of the allegations by the Defence, that the Prosecutor has an inappropriate strategy of bootstrapping the Accused to other Ministers using the conspiracy law, against whom there may be more evidence, and that such strategy is unfair and unjust to the Accused." The court further says that "because there are considerably fewer allegations against the Accused in the indictment, the amount of evidence the Prosecutor has may differ markedly in regard to this Accused. In light of this, the Trial Chamber therefore notes that concurrent presentation of evidence that is unrelated to the Accused may also deprive him of his right to be tried without undue delay." In their decision, the judges concluded that a joint trial could deny Kajelijeli his right to a fair trial because evidence brought against the co-accused "could have a negative spillover effect and unfairly magnify the responsibilities and activities of the Accused". They said he would probably not enjoy the same rights to a fair trial as he would if he were tried separately. Trial Chamber Two is composed of Judge Laity Kama of Senegal presiding, Judge William Sekule of Tanzania and Judge Mehmet Güney of Turkey. JC/FH (PL%0711e)
ICTR/POLITICIANS FIVE FORMER RWANDAN POLITICIANS PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO GENOCIDE CHARGES Arusha, April 8th, '99 (FH) - Five former Rwandan politicians on Thursday pleaded not guilty to eleven charges of genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Former Education Minister André Rwamakuba burst into tears and sobbed out his not guilty plea as from the seventh to the eleventh count. Jointly charged with him were Edouard Karemera, former Interior Minister in the interim government that presided over the 1994 genocide, and two former officials in the MRND party of late president Juvénal Habyarimana. They are Mathieu Ngirumpatse, who was MRND president, and Joseph Nzirorera, who was secretary-general. The former mayor of Mukingo Juvénal Kajelijeli is also charged with them. Four of the accused pleaded not guilty on their own account, but Karemera refused to plead without a defence counsel. The court therefore registered a plea of "not guilty" on his behalf, in line with Rule 62 of its Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Karemera's lawyer, Emmanuel Leclerc of Belgium, withdrew from the case just before this initial appearance. In a letter read to the ICTR.on Wednesday by his client, Leclerc explained that "the events in Rwanda in 1994 are referred to by some as genocide and by others as massacres by both sides. So far as I am concerned, the only correct term is genocide. Mr Karemera holds a different opinion. "As we do not define the 1994 events in the same terms, it would seem to me very difficult to continue defending my client without doing him a disservice," says the letter, dated April 6th. The initial appearance of the five former politicians was originally scheduled for March 10th, but was aborted, owing to controversy over which was the correct version of the indictment. This indictment is a 108-page document, citing eleven charges of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Convention. These violations include humiliating and degrading treatment, rape and indecent assault in the context of an internal armed conflict. The five were arrested on different dates in June and October last year,. Karemera in Togo, Ngirumpatse in Mali, Nzirorera and Kajelijeli in Benin, and Rwamakuba in Namibia. Their case resumes at an unspecified date, with the hearing of a number of motions from the defence. JC/NI/PHD/FH (PL§0408e)