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Information, Documentation and Training Agency, Arusha (Tanzania): International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
ICTR - Omar Serushago, former Interahamwe militia leader
JUNE 20th, 2003
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ICTR/MILITARY
"MILITARY I" TRIAL TO RESUME MONDAY
Arusha, June 20th, 2003 (FH) - The trial of four former senior Rwandan army officers will resume on Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Trial Chamber One of the ICTR hearing the case adjourned Thursday after hearing the fourth prosecution witness,
Omar Serushago
, a former Interahamwe militia leader in Gisenyi who, in 1999, pleaded guilty to genocide and was sentenced for 15 years in prison by the tribunal. The session on Thursday ended with a status conference held in closed session and meant to plan the hearings of prosecution witnesses for the coming week.
Serushago's testimony was an attempt by the prosecution to shed light on incriminating evidence against one of the accused, Lieutenant Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, former military commander in Gisenyi (north-western Rwanda).
The prosecution is expected to produce four witnesses as of Monday, all of whom will have their identities kept secret for security purposes. All in all, the prosecution intends to call a total of 121 witnesses.
The trial groups together the former director of cabinet in the ministry of defence, Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, the former head of military operations in the Rwandan army Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, and Major Aloys Ntabakuze who used to be the commander of the Para-commando battalion based at Kanombe (Kigali)
The four officers have pleaded not guilty to war crimes and conspiracy to commit genocide among others.
Chamber one is composed of Judge Erik Mřse from Norway (presiding), Serguei Aleckseievich of Russia and Jai Ram Reddy from Fiji.
KN/CE/FH (ML'0620e)
JUNE 20th, 2003
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ICTR/MILITARY I
SERUSHAGO'S CREDIBILITY QUESTIONED BY DEFENCE
Arusha, June 20th, 2003 (FH) - The defence counsel for the former military commander of Gisenyi region, Lieutenant Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, on Thursday put the credibility of Omar Serushago to doubt, at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Serushago, 42, the fourth prosecution witness in the trial of four senior army officers in the former Rwandan army (ex-FAR), has been testifying since Wednesday. He pleaded guilty of genocide in 1999 and was sentenced to 15 in prison by the ICTR.
His testimony dwelt mainly with the role Nsengiyumva played in the 1994 genocide
Serushago's testimony came under attack by Nsengiyumva's Kenyan lawyer, Ottachi Bw'Omanwa. He questioned the credibility of the witness, pointing out discrepancies between his earlier statement to ICTR investigators and his testimony before the tribunal.
The lawyer gave an example where the witness gave two different dates that his client had allegedly called upon Interahamwe's in Gisenyi to go give a hand in Bisesero and Nyange (Kibuye, western Rwanda) where "Tutsis were putting up a resistance". Serushago's statement to investigators he made around 1997-98 said that the incident happened in April, 1994, yet his court testimony put it in June.
Another point of contradiction pointed out by the lawyer was the vehicle that transported the militia (who were allegedly given arms and ammunition by Nsengiyumva) to Bisesero. The witness had told the court that it was a "Toyota Starlet" that he had even personally used, yet in his statement he had said it was a bus.
The witness argued that "typing errors could have slipped through here and there", adding that the investigators who interviewed him were not fluent in French.
Short memory
On the incident of the 20 people kidnapped from a bishop's house April 20, 1994 and killed on the orders of the accused, Serushago had problems explaining to court Nsengiyumva's exact role.
"He gave the signal but he is not the one who gave the order. It was already planned", explained the witness.
In addition to that, the witness said that the Interahamwe who had taken part in the operation had been congratulated by Nsengiyumva. Again the witness had difficulties remembering the venue where it happened.
"I think it was either at Meridien hotel or Palm Beach hotel", the witness said, asking the tribunal to bear with his short memory of times and places.
At one time Serushago asked the lawyer not to ask him "questions that were of no use to the chamber". The presiding judge of Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, Erik Mose of Norway, intervened a number of times, explaining to the witness the importance of the questions to the defence.
Judge Mose is assisted in chamber one by Serguei Aleckseievich of Russia and Jai Ram Reddy from Fiji.
Serushago finished his testimony in the afternoon. The days proceedings ended with a status conference that was held in closed session.
KN/GA/CE/FH (ML'0620e)
JUNE 19th, 2003
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ICTR/MILITARY I
NSENGIYUMVA ALLEGEDLY ORDERED MASSACRES OF TUTSIS IN APRIL 1994
Arusha, June 19th, 2003 (FH) - A prosecution witness on Wednesday asserted before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), that Lieutenant Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva allegedly ordered the killings of Tutsis on the night of April 6, 1994.
Omar Serushago, the fourth prosecution witness and one of the twelve people convicted by the ICTR, was testifying in the "military I" trial, in which
Nsengiyumva and three other former senior military officers of the former Rwandan army are being tried.
Serushago, a former militia leader who pleaded guilty to genocide and was sentenced in 1999 to 15 years in prison, made the allegations during his examination by one of the prosecutors in the case, Segun Jegede from Nigeria.
He said that on the night immediately after Habyarimana's assassination, Lieutenant Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, who was then the military commander of Gisenyi region, ordered his soldiers to begin massacres in that region.
"A soldier from his camp told me that they had begun killing operations on the night of April 6, 1994 on the orders of Nsengiyumva", revealed Serushago who also hails from that region and was a member of the Interahamwe militia, considered to have spearheaded the1994 genocide.
The witness said that within hours of the order being given, the streets of Gisenyi were strewn with dead bodies "riddled with bullets or hacked by machetes". He continued that on the afternoon of April 7, Nsengiyumva with his escorts passed by his house and instructed him to join other Interahamwe in the killings.
Anatole Nsengiyumva is jointly accused with Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, a former director of cabinet in the ministry of defence, the former head of military operations of the army, General Gratien Kabiligi, and the former commander of the Para-commando battalion in Kanombe (Kigali), Major Aloys Ntabakuze.
They have pleaded not guilty to charges of, among others, conspiracy to commit genocide and war crimes.
The prosecution maintains that between April and June 1994, Nsengiyumva chaired meetings with hundreds of militias in Gisenyi where "he incited and encouraged participants to continue with the massacres of the Tutsi civilian population".
The "red Commune"
Serushago specified that from April 7 to 13, 1994, he was in charge of the roadblock at the "corniche" border crossing on the shores of Lake Kivu. According to him, the roadblock was meant to sort out Tutsis and members of the Hutu opposition. He revealed that among the Interahamwe present with him at the checkpoint were Bagosora's son Vicky and members of Habyarimana's family.
He explained that those arrested at the roadblock were taken to "Commune Rouge" (the red commune), a euphemism invented by Nsengiyumva to indicate the killing ground in the town.
Serushago notably singled out an incident on April 20 where Nsengiyumva entrusted him with a mission to go and arrest 20 people who had taken refuge with a bishop and kill them.Nineteen Tutsis and one Hutu woman were taken and shot at commune rouge.
"I personally killed four of them. That is the reason I am in prison right now", the witness confessed, adding that acts of rape also took place at commune rouge.
Nsengiyumva's defence counsel began his cross-examination of the witness on Wednesday afternoon. On of his Kenyan lawyers, Otachi Bw'Omanwa, dwelt mainly on the activities of Interahamwe, political and military figures before and during the genocide.
The "Military 1" is being held in trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of Judge Erik Mřse of Norway, assisted by Serguei Aleckseievich of Russia and Jai Ram Reddy from Fiji.
Serushago's cross-examination continues on Thursday.
KN/GA/CE/FH (ML'0619e)
DECEMBER 10th, 2001
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ICTR/REGISTRY
EX-RWANDAN PREMIER MOVED TO MALI TO SERVE GENOCIDE SENTENCE
Arusha, December 10th, 2001 (FH) - Genocide convict and former Rwandan prime minister Jean Kambanda and five other genocide convicts were on Sunday transferred from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Tanzania to Mali, where they will serve their sentences, official sources confirmed. These six are the first ICTR convicts to be transferred to a prison to serve out their sentence.
Kambanda is the first leader of a government to be convicted of genocide. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1999. He lost an appeal against the sentence. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
The other five ICTR convicts transferred to Mali are
: former mayor of Taba commune Jean Paul Akayesu, former governor of Kibuye province Clement Kayishema and former tea factory director Alfred Musema, who were all sentenced to life in prison; former Interahamwe militia leader
Omar Serushago
, who was sentenced to 15 years, and former businessman Obed Ruzindana who was sentenced to 25 years. All five lost appeals against their trials and sentences.
The ICTR has so far handed down nine judgements: eight convictions and one acquittal. Three African countries, Mali, Benin and Swaziland, have signed agreements with the ICTR to take Tribunal convicts in their prisons.
The convicts transferred to Mali had, until Sunday, been in custody at the UN Detention Facility (UNDF) in Arusha. The prisons in which ICTR convicts serve their sentences are required to meet international standards.
GG/JC/DO/FH (RE_1210e)
NOVEMBER 28th, 2001
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ICTR/ MEDIA
Serushago testimony admitted
BELGIAN WRITER STARTS CONTESTED TESTIMONY IN GENOCIDE MEDIA CASE
Arusha, November 28th, 2001 (FH) Belgian journalist and Central Africa specialist Colette Braeckmann on Wednesday began testifying for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) prosecution in the genocide trial of three Rwandan media personalities, with their defence lawyers raising objections within minutes.
The row, as she started her testimony at the end of the day, surrounded the admission into evidence of a Belgian press agency (Belga) report of which she is not the author. The witness is a longstanding journalist and Africa expert for Belgian daily newspaper "Le Soir", author of several books on Rwanda and central Africa, and a renowned researcher on the region. Defence had already objected to this witness testimony earlier this month, saying that it was entirely based on hearsay and that they had not been provided with a proper witness statement. Prosecution is presenting her as a fact witness rather than an expert.
"From the first minute, we are falling into the realm of total hearsay," objected René Martel, Canadian co-counsel for the accused Hassan Ngeze. "At each moment we are hearing opinions rather than facts."
Ngeze is former editor of the newspaper Kangura. He is being jointly tried with two other people linked to media that incited Hutus against Tutsis, before and during the 1994 genocide. The co-accused are
Ferdinand Nahimana
, a founder and alleged former director of "hate radio" RTLM; and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, former leader of the radical Hutu CDR party, advisor to the interim government in Rwanda and board member of RTLM. Barayagwiza has been boycotting the trial since it started in October 2000.
Lawyers for all three accused argued that the Belga report, on a 1992 press conference by Nahimana in Brussels, should be thrown out, because Braeckmann was not the author and the author could have been called to testify directly. Martel accused the witness, in her work, of always using "the method of the ventriloquist". "It is never she who speaks, it is
others," he told the court.
Braeckmann had previously told the court that she was present at Nahimana's press conference on March 18th, 1992, and that she had "probably" written her own article which she could find "easily" if asked by prosecution. She said she had kept the Belga report because it seemed a particularly good and accurate account of what Nahimana said. She explained that he had been under fire for the alleged role of state-owned Radio Rwanda (of which he was then director) in fuelling massacres of Tutsis in the central Rwandan region of Bugesera.
Acting presiding judge Erik Mose of Norway said the court would announce its decision on Thursday morning when the trial resumes. Mose and Sri Lankan judge Asoka de Zoysa Guawardana are the only two judges sitting on the Bench this week, as presiding judge and ICTR President Navanathem Pillay of South Africa is in New York for a meeting of the UN General
Assembly. Already once this week, the two judges have disagreed on a decision, but nevertheless managed to reach a final compromise position.
Serushago testimony admitted
Braeckmann was preceded by the brief testimony of protected witness "AHB", who testified mainly against Barayagwiza. The previous witness, ICTR genocide convict Omar Serushago was on the stand for nearly two weeks. The court threw out a defence motion to have his testimony rejected on the grounds that it was full of contradictions and that he had been bought off by the Prosecutor.
Serushago is a self-confessed killer and informer for the Prosecution, who assisted in the arrest of several ICTR genocide suspects in West Africa and Kenya, including Ngeze. He testified mainly against Ngeze and Barayagwiza. Serushago was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to genocide before the ICTR.
Presiding judge in this case and Tribunal President Pillay told the UN on Monday she did not think this case would finish before the end of 2002. She said prosecution planned to close its case in May next year and that defence witnesses would then take the stand.
Judge Pillay said prosecution had originally tendered a list of 97 witnesses, but that after various status conferences this had been reduced to less than 50, including four experts. Braeckmann is the 34th witness in this trial.
Explaining the slowness of ICTR trials in general, Judge Pillay cited the complexity of procedures, the scattered location of witnesses, the interpreting of testimonies from the Rwandan language Kinyarwanda into ICTR official languages English and French, and the volume of documents that had to be translated into the two official languages.
JC/AT/DO/FH (ME_1128e)
NOVEMBER 27th, 2001
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ICTR/ MEDIA
DEFENCE WANTS SERUSHAGO'S TESTIMONY THROWN OUT
Arusha, November 27th, 2001 (FH) Defence lawyers on Tuesday asked the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to throw out the testimony of genocide convict
Omar Serushago
in the so-called "Media trial", on grounds that it was "manufactured".
Serushago is a former militia leader sentenced to 15 years' in prison after pleading guilty to genocide before the ICTR. He is also a self-confessed informer for the ICTR Prosecutor.
The Media trial groups three suspects linked to "hate media" that fuelled the 1994 genocide in Rwanda: Hassan Ngeze, former editor of Kangura newspaper; Ferdinand Nahimana, alleged director of Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM); and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, a founder of the CDR party and board member of RTLM. Serushago testified mainly against Ngeze and Barayagwiza, but said all three accused were members of a "death squad".
In an oral motion to the court, Ngeze's American lawyer John Floyd said Serushago's evidence should be thrown out because it was "preposterous, replete with dishonesty" and because the witness had "contradicted himself at so many different levels and on so many different occasions".
Floyd suggested that Serushago was not credible because he was in the pay of the Prosecutor, had got only a 15 year sentence for genocide and had his family relocated with the support of the Tribunal. He said that if a collaborator testified in the US, his evidence had to be corroborated from an independent source.
Barayagwiza's co-counsel Alfred Pognon of Benin backed the call to have Serushago's testimony thrown out. He told the court that the witness was himself an actor in the crimes and had been set up to do whatever the Prosecutor wanted.
At the end of his testimony, Serushago asked the Tribunal to "organize my evacuation from Arusha as quickly as possible, for my security".
Mali, Benin and Swaziland have reached agreements with the ICTR to take Tribunal convicts. Mali is expected to be the first country to receive some.
The Media case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding but temporarily absent), Erik Mose of Norway (acting president) and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka. The judges are to deliberate on the motion.
AT/JC/DO/FH (ME_1127F )
NOVEMBER 27th, 2001
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ICTR/MEDIA
COURT DENIES SUSPECT PERMISSION TO CROSS-EXAMINE WITNESS
Arusha, November 27th, 2001 (FH) The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday denied genocide suspect Hassan Ngeze's request to cross-examine a witness after his lawyers. The judges, however, permitted Ngeze to write down questions intended for the witness, and hand them over to the bench for possible consideration.
Ngeze is former editor of Kangura newspaper. He is on trial with two other suspects linked to "hate media" in Rwanda before and during the 1994 genocide. They are: Ferdinand Nahimana, alleged director of Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM); and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, a founder of the CDR party and board member of RTLM. The three are charged with several counts of genocide, public incitement to commit genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity. They have pleaded not guilty.
The witness is genocide convict
Omar Serushago
, who has testified mainly against Ngeze and Barayagwiza. Barayagwiza is boycotting the trial.
"Ngeze will write the five questions on a piece of paper and hand it to the Bench," acting presiding judge Erik Mose of Norway ruled. "We may decide to use them if we consider them relevant and admissible."
The ruling was reached as a compromise between different opinions of the two judges currently sitting on the case. The third judge, ICTR President Navanethem Pillay of South Africa, is in New York for the UN general assembly.
This court (Trial Chamber One) is composed of judges Pillay, Mose and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka.
Judge Mose earlier found that Ngeze had not shown sufficient basis to put questions to the witness in addition to his counsel's cross-examination. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Gunawardana said that an accused had a fundamental right to defend himself, even if he had counsel.
Ngeze has previously been allowed to cross-examine some witnesses in addition to his counsel's cross-examination. He says he does not trust his assigned lawyers John Floyd of the US and René Martel of Canada, and has tried unsuccessfully to have them replaced.
The defence team for Nahimana on Monday objected to Ngeze putting questions to the witness. Co-counsel Diana Ellis of the UK argued that Ngeze's questions might prejudice her client. The prosecution too objected to Ngeze's request. Defence counsel for Barayagwiza Alfred Pognon of Benin supported Ngeze's request.
The trial continued Tuesday with judges putting questions to prosecution witness Serushago.
GG/JC/DO/FH (ME_1127e)
NOVEMBER 22nd, 2001
ICTR/MEDIA
WITNESS DENOUNCES DEFENCE INVESTIGATOR
Arusha, November, 22nd, 2001 (FH) Genocide convict
Omar Serushago
on Thursday denounced a defence investigator at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as having participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Serushago told the court on his sixth day of testimony that defence investigator for genocide suspect Ferdinard Nahimana was wanted by the ICTR Prosecutor.
"A man sitting behind me worked in the office of the president," Serushago said pointing at Aloys Ngendahimana in the public gallery. "In fact he is wanted by the Tribunal." The public gallery is separated from the courtroom by thick bullet-proof glass.
Defence counsel for Nahimana strongly objected, saying this was "a technique aimed at destabilising the defence". "My investigator has been accused," French lawyer Jean-Marie Biju Duval told the court. "This is a serious breach of his security." Biju Duval asked the court to sanction Serushago.
The court ordered the ICTR Registry to investigate Serushago's allegations and submit a report to the Chamber.
Ngendahimana was in July suspended by the Registry on suspicion of involvement in the genocide. He was said to be on the Rwandan government's list of top genocide suspects. However, he was reinstated after the Registry discovered that the suspect on the Category One list was a different person bearing the same name.
Presiding Judge Navanethem Pillay of South Africa said that the court would in no way be influenced by Serushago's allegations against Nahimana's investigator.
Nahimana is a founder and alleged former director of Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). He is on trial with two other people linked to media that incited Hutus to kill Tutsis before and during the 1994 genocide: Jean-Bosco-Barayagwiza, aformer politician and RTLM board member; and Hassan Ngeze, former editor of the newspaper Kangura.
Serushago, 40, plead guilty to genocide before the ICTR in 1999. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was the leader of Interahamwe militia in the northwest Rwandan region of Gisenyi during the 1994 genocide. Interahamwe were a militia of the then ruling party.
The "Media trial" continued with cross-examination of Serushago by Nahimana's British co-counsel Diana Ellis.
The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway and Andrésia Vaz of Senegal.
GG/JC/PHD/FH (ME_1122e)
NOVEMBER 21st, 2001
ICTR/ MEDIA
BARAYAGWIZA'S LAWYER ACCUSES CONVICT OF FALSE TESTIMONY
Arusha, November 21st, 2001 (FH) A defence lawyer on Wednesday suggested that a convict testifying before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) had given false testimony.
Lawyer Alfred Pognon of Benin sought to show that
Omar Serushago
, who is testifying in the so-called "Media trial", was not telling the truth. Serushago was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1999, after pleading guilty to genocide before the ICTR.
Pognon is representing the accused Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, a former Rwandan politician and board member of "hate radio" RTLM. Barayagwiza is on trial with two other people linked to media which incited Hutus to kill Tutsis during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. They are Ferdinand Nahimana, a founder and alleged former director of RTLM; and Hassan Ngeze, former editor of newspaper Kangura.
In his testimony, Serushago accused Barayagwiza and Ngeze of having conspired to plan the genocide, which left some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.
"Not much to lose"
"It's very easy for you," Pognon told the witness Serushago. "Seeing as you have been given a relatively long sentence, you would not have much to lose by bearing false testimony."
Serushago retorted that "testifying demands courage", and that he was not the only ICTR convict who had decided to testify in this trial. Italo-Belgian former RTLM presenter Georges Ruggiu, sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty, is also on the prosecution witness list.
Pognon sought to show that Serushago only had a vague knowledge of Barayagwiza and his activities in Rwanda during the 1990s.
During cross-examination, Serushago conceded that a military officer he had mentioned as being a death squad ("escadron de la mort") member had in fact died three years before the period in question. "I admit that Colonel Rwendeye had died three years before the meetings that I said he attended," Serushago admitted. "I request the court to forgive me for this oversight".
Pognon suggested to Serushago that all his testimony on the death squad had simply been made up. The witness testified that there had been a clandestine organisation in Rwanda set up around 1990 to assassinate senior Tutsi personalities, and that Barayagwiza had been a member.
ICTR Rules provide that a court can, on its own initiative or at the request of one of the parties, order the Prosecutor to investigate suspected false testimony with a view to bringing charges. False testimony under oath can be sanctioned by a fine of up to $10,000 and/ or up to one year in prison.
Pognon did not bring a formal complaint against Serushago for false testimony, despite his allegations. In the past, lawyers have brought motions for false testimony, but these have been rejected by the judges.
Alleged intimidation
For his part, Serushago accused Hassan Ngeze of having sent him a letter warning him not to testify. Tribunal Rules say that any person seeking to influence or intimidate a witness can be declared in contempt of court and sentenced to a fine of $10,000 maximum, or up to six months in prison.
The court has decided to hear the person who allegedly brought to Serushago the letter from Ngeze. The accused denies that he wrote such a letter.
Serushago acted as informer for the ICTR Prosecutor prior to his own arrest. He contributed to the arrests of several Rwandan genocide suspects in West Africa and Kenya, including Ngeze.
Ngeze claims that ICTR investigators seized $20,000 from his home at the time of his arrest, and is demanding the money back. His counsel Floyd said he would raise this matter during the planned future testimony of one of the investigators who arrested his client in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in July 1997.
This case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka.
AT/JC/PHD/FH (ME_1121E)
*
NOVEMBER 20th, 2001
ICTR / MEDIA
GENOCIDE SUSPECT ASKS TO CROSS-QUESTION CONVICT
Arusha, November 20th, 2001 (FH) - Former Kangura newspaper editor and genocide suspect Hassan Ngeze on Tuesday asked judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for permission to cross-question a convict who is testifying against him.
Ngeze asked that he be able to put some 60 questions to Omar Serushago, who has been testifying against him since last Thursday. Serushago was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1999, after pleading guilty to genocide before the ICTR.
Ngeze is on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity, along with two other people linked to media which incited Hutus to kill Tutsis during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The Trial Chamber said it would examine his request after Serushago had been cross-examined by all the defence teams.
Serushago was on Tuesday cross-examined by Ngeze's American lawyer John Floyd. During the trial, Ngeze has several times asked, and sometimes been granted permission, to cross-question witnesses himself. He says he does not trust his ICTR-assigned lawyers.
Serushago accused Ngeze of having collaborated with him in massacres of Tutsis in the northwest Rwandan prefecture of Gisenyi. The witness, an ex-militia leader in Gisenyi, was convicted for 37 murders carried out by himself or his subordinates during the genocide.
Ngeze is on trial with Ferdinand Nahimana, a founder and alleged former director of "hate radio" RTLM; and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, an ex-politician and RTLM board member.
Serushago also told the court that Ngeze had collaborated with Barayagwiza to spread the extremist Hutu ideology that led to genocide.
In cross-examination, lawyer Floyd argued that there could not have been any link between Barayagwiza and Ngeze, as the first was a top civil servant and the second was a person with little education.
Witness Serushago answered: "Ngeze is not educated. But there is a kind of innate intelligence. (…) You know, there are countries that have generals but which are led by corporals."
AT/JC/PHD/FH (ME_1120E)
NOVEMBER 19th, 2001
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ICTR/ MEDIA
CONVICT DENIES FABRICATING EVIDENCE AGAINST AN ACCUSED
Arusha, November 19th, 2001 (FH) An International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR) genocide convict on Monday denied having fabricated evidence
against former Kangura newspaper editor Hassan Ngeze, as suggested by
Ngeze's lawyer.
Omar Serushago
maintained that he had collaborated with Ngeze in
committing crimes, despite not having mentioned Ngeze in key statements to
the ICTR prosecution.
Serushago is the 32nd prosecution witness in the so-called "Media
trial" of Ngeze and two other accused. He told the court he had
collaborated with Ngeze in the commission of crimes in Gisenyi, northwest
Rwanda, during the 1994 genocide.
The witness was a militia leader in Gisenyi during the genocide.
In 1999, the ICTR sentenced him to 15 years in prison after he pleaded
guilty to genocide. He was found guilty of 37 murders committed by himself
or his subordinates.
Ngeze's American lawyer John Floyd tried to discredit the
witness's testimony, saying that Serushago had not mentioned his client's
name either in a 1998 statement to ICTR investigators, or in his 1999 plea
agreement with the prosecution.
The convict said he had previously listed only members of the
Interahamwe militia and the CDR political party that he said had committed
crimes with him. Serushago said it had not been a question of listing every
person he collaborated with, and that Ngeze was nevertheless among them.
Serushago told the court that Ngeze was a CDR leader in Gisenyi and that he
collaborated with Interahamwe who spearheaded the massacres of Tutsis in 1994.
Floyd complained that the witness was not answering his questions
clearly, but was rather trying to advance his own cause.
Serushago was recruited as an informer for the ICTR Prosecutor
before himself being arrested. He contributed to the arrests of several
Rwandan genocide suspects in West Africa and in Kenya, including Ngeze.
Ngeze is on trial with Ferdinand Nahimana, a founder and alleged
former director of "hate radio" RTLM; and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, a former
advisor to the Rwandan foreign ministry and RTLM board member. Barayagwiza
has been boycotting the trial since it started in October 2000, claiming
that it will not be fair because the ICTR is manipulated by the current
pro-Tutsi government in Kigali.
The case is before the ICTR's Trial Chamber One, composed of
judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway
and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka.
AT/JC/DO/FH (ME_1119E)
NOVEMBER 16th, 2001
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ICTR/ MEDIA
GENOCIDE SUSPECT KILLED TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS, SAYS CONVICT
Arusha, November 16th, 2001 (FH) Former Kangura newspaper editor and
genocide suspect Hassan Ngeze killed a Tutsi during the 1994 genocide to
encourage others, a genocide convict told the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Friday.
According to
Omar Serushago
, Ngeze told militiamen in Gisenyi,
northwest Rwanda: "Why have you kept these Tutsis waiting? I'm going to set
you an example, to show you how these Inyenzi (pejorative term for Tutsis)
die".
Serushago, a former Gisenyi militia leader, said Ngeze shot his
victim in a Gisenyi cemetery, where Tutsis were killed and buried between
April and July 1994. "In that place known as the commune rouge, he (Ngeze)
incited Interahamwe (militia) and members of the CDR (hardline Hutu
political party) to kill," the convict told the court. "There were people
who cut up the bodies, who undressed the women and abused them before
killing them."
Serushago was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1999, after
pleading guilty to genocide before the ICTR. He is testifying against Ngeze
and two other accused linked to media that incited Hutus to kill Tutsis
during the genocide. The other two are Ferdinand Nahimana, a founder and
alleged ex-director of RTLM radio; and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, who was a
policy advisor to the Rwandan foreign ministry and RTLM board member.
The witness told the court that Ngeze and Barayagwiza had also
distributed arms to militiamen in Gisenyi.
Serushago said Ngeze moved around town with a group of militiamen,
selecting and picking up Tutsis at roadblocks. He said Ngeze and a certain
Hassan Bagoyi then took the Tutsis to "Commune rouge", where they were killed.
Serushago is the 32nd prosecution witness in this trial.The case
is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Navanethem
Pillay (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of
Sri Lanka.
JC/AT/DO/FH (ME_1116e)
NOVEMBER 15th, 2001
ICTR/MEDIA
BARAYAGWIZA WAS DEATH SQUAD MEMBER, SAYS GENOCIDE CONVICT
Arusha, November 15th, 2001 (FH) Former Rwandan politician Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza was a member of a "death squad" set up to kill Tutsis, genocide convict
Omar Serushago
told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday.
Serushago is a former leader of the Interahamwe Hutu militia in Gisenyi, northwest Rwanda. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1999, after pleading guilty to genocide before the ICTR.
Serushago is testifying against three people linked to media which incited Hutus to kill Tutsis during the genocide that took place between April and July 1994 in Rwanda. They are: founder and alleged former director of Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) Ferdinand Nahimana; former Kangura newspaper editor Hassan Ngeze; and Barayagwiza, who was a policy advisor to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and an RTLM board member.
As well as being leader of the hardline Hutu CDR political party, Serushago said Barayagwiza was also a member of a death squad set up to kill Tutsi intellectuals and richTutsis. He said the death squad was set up in 1990 (when the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda) and continued activities through to 1994. The witness claimed Barayagwiza was also close to the immediate circle of former president Juvénal Habyarimana and his wife, known as the "Akazu".
The witness said Barayagwiza was financing groups of young people and "everyone in the country knew these young people were killing Tutsis". He gave the names of two such young people, whom he described as taxi drivers, saying that he had often been with them in Gisenyi. Serushago also said he had a sister who worked for Barayagwiza's party in Kigali and who revealed certain CDR secrets to him.
The ICTR convict told the court he had attended many meetings of the death squad, but remembered two in particular, which were also attended by Barayagwiza, in late 1993 and early 1994.
He also said the accused had sent a fax in early 1994 calling on the youth wings of the CDR (Impuzamugambi) and of the former presidential party MRND (Interhamwe) in Gisenyi to hunt down and kill Tutsis. He said the fax was sent just after the death of CDR president Martin Bucyana, who was assassinated in February 1994. Barayagwiza was appointed CDR president after Bucyana's death, according to Serushago.
Still according to the witness, the fax said: "Now that the Inyenzi (Tutsis) have killed the president of the CDR, all Hutus are asked to be vigilant, to hunt out Tutsis wherever they are and wherever they are hiding. Even if they are in the churches, they must be pursued and killed."
"The reaction was immediate," Serushago told the court, meaning that killing of Tutsis began straight away.
Serushago also told the court that the accused Hassan Ngeze drove around Gisenyi town in his car, telling people that "the Tutsis are finished". The witness said Ngeze had mounted a megaphone on the car, a Toyota Hilux.
Serushago said Ngeze published lists of Tutsis to be killed in his Kangura newspaper. He told the court he had often seen Barayagwiza and Ngeze together in meetings of the CDR in Gisenyi in 1992 and 1993.
Ngeze was present in court. Barayagwiza has been boycotting the trial since it began in October 2000, saying that the ICTR is manipulated by the current pro-Tutsi government in Kigali.
JC/AT/DO/FH (ME_1215e)
NOVEMBER 15th, 2001
______________________________________________
ICTR/MEDIA
WE COMMITTED CRIMES TOGETHER, CONVICT SAYS OF ACCUSED
Arusha, November 15th, 2001 (FH) Genocide convict Omar Serushago told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday he had collaborated with an accused in the commission of crimes during the 1994 genocide.
"I participated in the arrest of Hassan Ngeze because we both participated in the crimes that were committed in the town of Gisenyi (northwest Rwanda)," Serushago told the court. Serushago was a militia leader in Gisenyi. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in 1999 after pleading guilty to genocide before the ICTR.
Serushago told the court he had known Ngeze since childhood, that they were "like brothers", and that their families were also close. Ngeze also comes from Gisenyi.
Ngeze, against whom the convict is testifying, was owner and editor of the Kangura newspaper in Rwanda. He is on trial with two other accused linked to media that incited Hutus to kill Tutsis during the genocide. They are: founder and alleged former director of RTLM radio Ferdinand Nahimana; and former politician and RTLM board member
Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza
. All three have pleaded not guilty to charges including genocide and crimes against humanity.
Serushago admitted he had been recruited as an informer by the ICTR Prosecutor and that he had helped with the 1997 arrests in Kenya of seven Rwandans, including former Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda and Ngeze.
The ex-militia leader claimed that, while in the United Nations Detention Facility (UNDF) in Arusha, he had received a letter from Ngeze, threatening him against testifying. Serushago also said that immediately after his arrest, Ngeze had warned him against admitting that there had been genocide in Rwanda.
"On my first day in detention, just when our cells were opened, Ngeze came to me and told me that 'our objective is the same: you should not accept that there has ever been genocide in Rwanda'," Serushago told the court. He is testifying in his native language Kinyarwanda.
Serushago was due to begin testifying on Wednesday, but did not do so because he was sick. The case is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka.
GG/JC/DO/FH(ME_1115e)
FEBRUARY 14th 2000
ICTR/SERUSHAGO
ICTR APPEALS COURT CONFIRMS SENTENCE ON FORMER MILITIAMAN
Arusha, February 14th 2000 (FH) - The Appeals Court of the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday confirmed a 15-year prison
sentence on former Rwandan militiaman Omar Serushago who pleaded guilty to
genocide.
Reading the decision, French presiding judge Claude Jorda said the court
rejected the appeal of the defence, which had pleaded for a sentence
reduction. In a hearing lasting barely five minutes, he said the court
would give its reasons in a written document as soon as possible.
Serushago's thus becomes the first case to close at the ICTR. All the other
six people so far sentenced have also appealed.
Under ICTR rules, convicts are to be transferred from UN detention in
Arusha to prison in a country which has an agreement with the ICTR. So far,
the only countries with such agreements are the West African states of Mali
and Benin.
Serushago was a regional militia leader in Gisenyi, northwest Rwanda,
during the genocide. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on February
5th, 1999, after pleading guilty.
On Monday morning, Serushago's Tanzanian defence counsel Mohamed Ismail
had asked the Appeals Court to reduce his client's sentence, on the basis
that Serushago pleaded guilty and that he would have got a lighter sentence
in Rwanda.
"The Trial Chamber did not give enough weight to the mitigating factors
and circumstances of the case," Ismail told the Appeals Court. Ismail
pointed to his client's co-operation with the Prosecutor, and the fact that
he surrendered himself voluntarily to Ivory Coast police in June 1998. He
said that his client not only pleaded guilty, but also expressed his
remorse in public.
The prosecution argued that the Trial Chamber had in fact taken ample
account of mitigating factors, and of general sentencing practice in
Rwanda. Mohamed Othman, Chief of Prosecutions at the Office of the
Prosecutor, said that sentencing considerations should be read in relation
to the ICTR's maximum sentence of life imprisonment and that "already the
Trial Chamber has reduced the sentence from the maximum of life to 15 years."
This was the first of three appeals hearings taking place in Arusha. The
appeals judges, who are normally based in The Hague (Netherlands), are also
in Arusha for an extraordinary plenary session of ICTR judges.
JC/FH (SR%0214f)
FEBRUARY 14th 2000
ICTR/SERUSHAGO
GENOCIDE CONVICT ASKS APPEALS COURT TO REDUCE HIS SENTENCE
Arusha, February 14th 2000 (FH) - The defence lawyer for genocide convict Omar Serushago on Monday asked the Appeals Court of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to reduce his client's 15-year prison sentence, on the basis that Serushago pleaded guilty and that he would have got a lighter sentence in Rwanda.
Serushago was a regional militia leader in Gisenyi, northwest Rwanda during the genocide. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on February 5th, 1999, after pleading guilty.
"The Trial Chamber did not give enough weight to the mitigating factors and circumstances of the case," Serushago's Tanzanian lawyer Mohamed Ismail told the Appeals Court, presided by Judge Claude Jorda of France. Ismail pointed to his client's co-operation with the Prosecutor, the fact that he surrendered himself voluntarily to Ivory Coast police in June 1998, that he pleaded guilty and expressed his remorse publicly.
He also claimed that if Serushago had been tried in Rwanda, he would have got a lighter sentence, and that the Trial Chamber did not take that into consideration. Ismail argued that his client was not on Rwanda's list of Category One top genocide suspects at the time he was tried, and would therefore have fallen into Category Two. The penalty for Category Two suspects who confess before prosecution is between 7 and 11 years in prison.
Ismail quoted the ICTR's Rules of Procedure and Evidence, which say that "in determining sentence, the Trial Chamber shall take into account [...] the general practice regarding prison sentences in the courts of Rwanda". But he said the Trial Chamber had made no mention of Rwanda's so-called "organic law" that regulates judicial procedures against genocide suspects.
"Even if you are not bound to do so," he told the Appeal Court judges, "it is important for the UN's image that the UN recognizes such laws."
"I was attracted by your submission that the Trial Chamber did not allude to the organic law of the Republic of Rwanda," Judge Mohamed Shahabudeen of Guyana told Ismail at one point, but then went on to ask: "If the Appeal Court were to disregard the Rwandan organic law [...], would you say, in your long experience as a lawyer, that 15 years is too long a sentence for a man convicted of genocide and three counts of crimes against humanity?"
Prosecution wants sentence maintained
The prosecution argued that the Trial Chamber had in fact taken ample account of mitigating factors, and had also made indirect reference to Rwanda's organic law. Mohamed Othman, Chief of Prosecutions at the Office of the Prosecutor, said that sentencing considerations should be read in relation to the ICTR's maximum sentence of life imprisonment and that "already the Trial Chamber has reduced the sentence from the maximum of life to 15 years."
Othman argued that the Trial Chamber had in fact given more weight to mitigating cicumstances than to aggravating ones, and asked that the sentence be maintained. "There is no question that there has been cooperation with the Prosecutor [from Serushago] but it is our submission that this has been given sufficient weight," he said. Othman confirmed that this cooperation was ongoing, with Serushago expected to testify against other suspects.
Othman also confirmed that Serushago surrendered to the authorities before being actively sought by the Office of the Prosecutor, a requirement that could make him eligible for a sentence reduction under Rwandan law. However, Othman stressed that sentencing provisions in Rwanda depended on the "category" in which the suspect was placed.
"It is not our prerogative to place an accused in any category, " he told the court, "that is up to the Prosecutor-General of Rwanda. "Also, categorizations can be temporary, as the law is supposed to be revised."
The Appeals Court judges are now deliberating upon their decision. This is the first of three appeals hearings taking place in Arusha. The appeals judges, who are normally based in The Hague (Netherlands), are also in Arusha for an extraordinary plenary session of ICTR judges.
JC/FH (SR%0214e)
MARCH 3, 1999
ICTR/SERUSHAGO
FORMER LOCAL MILITIA CHIEF OMAR SERUSHAGO APPEALS HIS SENTENCE
Arusha, March 3rd ’99 (FH) - Former local militia leader Omar Serushago has appealed his 15-year prison sentence for genocide and crimes against humanity, handed down by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) on February 5th, 1999.
At the time of the genocide, he was militia leader in the Gisenyi region of western Rwanda.
Serushago's defence council, Mohamed Ismail of Tanzania, said in a notice of appeal dated March 1st, and of which the independent news agency Hirondelle has obtained a copy, that the court had ‘erred in law by not
giving due weight to the mitigating factors.
The Tribunal judgement made reference to such factors, notably Serushago's guilty plea and his cooperation with the prosecutor.
It also mentioned family and social influences on Serushago. The defence had argued that his family was close to that of former president Juvenal Habyarimana, and that he was subject to political pressure.
The court gave lengthy consideration to Serushago’s personal situation. It noted that he was a father of six children, including two who were very small. The judges said the fact that Omar Serushago was only 37, that he
had been cooperative and publicly admitted his crimes inspired hope that he could be rehabilitated.
In a pre-sentencing hearing a week before the judgement, Serushago publicly expressed remorse, asked forgiveness of the Rwandan people and called for national reconciliation.
Defence council Ismail said in his notice of appeal that the sentence was manifestly excessive and called for it to be reduced.
Ismail told the independant news agency Hirondelle just after the judgement that his client should have been given seven to seven-and- a- half years in prison.
The court found Serushago guilty in relation to 37 murders, four of which he committed himself. As a leader he was also held responsible for crimes committed by his subordinates.
The judgement said Omar Serushago admitted that several victims had been killed on his instructions, as he was supervising a roadblock on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The court also noted that Serushago’s participation in the massacres was voluntary and premeditated.
He is the third person sentenced by the ICTR to appeal his sentence, after former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda and former mayor of Taba Jean-Paul Akeyesu.
JC/AT/DO/FH (SR§0303E)
FEBRUARY 5, 1999
ICTR/SERUSHAGO
FORMER MILITIA LEADER IN RWANDA SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN JAIL FOR GENOCIDE
Arusha, Feb 05,1999 (FH) - The former Interahamwe militia leader in Rwanda, Omar Serushago (38) has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to four counts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda in 1994.
Handing down the sentence at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in the Northern town of Arusha, Tanzania, the presiding Judge La‹ty Kama from Senegal said the convict has to serve a single sentence of 15 years to all counts in a state to be decided later.
However, immediately after the sentence, the defence counsel, Mohamed Ismail from Tanzania, said he was not satisfied with the penalty and was preparing an appeal against it.
''This convict deserves a lesser penalty than the 15 years and I will appeal against the sentence so that it is reduced to much more below,'', the counsel told Hirondelle independant press agency.
During pre-sentencing hearing last week, the prosecution had asked the Court to penalise the convict to "not less than 25 years" in jail.
Earlier Judge Kama who was flanked by two other Judges, Lennart Aspegren from Sweden and Nevenathem Pillay from South Africa said the convict had himself killed four people while 33 others were murdered by his subordinates following his orders as the leader of Interahamwe militia during the 1994 Hutu dominated massacres in Rwanda.
It is believed that the massacres have claimed between 500,000 and 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi ethnic group in the hole country.
Judge Kama explained further that the sentence has taken into consideration all relevant mitigating circumstances including the convict voluntary surrender and plea of guilty, good co-operation he had extended to the prosecution and his willingness to testify in other pending genocide cases.
Serushago , the father of six children , is the first Interahamwe militia leader to plead guilty and sentenced for genocide and crimes against humanity since the establishment of the United Nations Court in Arusha nearly four years ago.
Late last year, two former senior Rwandan government leaders including the Prime Minister, Jean Kambanda and the Burgomaster of Taba commune, Jean-Paul Akayesu were sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity before the same tribunal. Both had appealed against the sentence.
NI/FH(SE&0205E )
10 AUGUST 1998
RWANDA /WARCRIMES
RWANDA TRIBUNAL EXTENDS DETENTION OF FIVE GENOCIDE SUSPECTS -PROSECUTION GAINS TIME TO DRAW UP INDICTMENTS
Arusha, 10th, August 98 (FH) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) ordered Monday that five genocide suspects not yet formally accused should remain in detention in Arusha in order to give the Prosecutor more time to prepare indictments against them.
The suspects expressed "astonishment" at the prosecutors request for an extra thirty days of detention in each case, saying that at the time of their arrests they had been told that "sufficient evidence" existed to implicate them in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, reported the independent press agency Hirondelle.
Despite the prosecutor's submission that the complexity of the inquiries, the lengthy analysis of documents, insufficient personnel and insecurity in Rwanda were all contributing to a delay in the drawing up of indictments against the suspects, the court ordered an extension of twenty days for only three of the five suspects. The former interior minister in the 1994 interim government Edouard Karemera, former president of the Mouvement Republicain National pour la Democratie et le Developpement (MRND) party, Matthieu Ngirumpatse and the former president of the National Assembly and high ranking MRND official Joseph Nzirorera were all arrested in West Africa in June and transferred to Arusha in July.
Presiding Judge Laity Kama (also President of the ICTR) granted the full thirty days extension of detention in the case of
Omar Serushago
, a former militia leader in the district of Gisenyi and for the former major in charge of logistics at the military base in Kigali, Bernard Ntuyahaga, a key witness in the assassination of ten Belgian UN paratroopers in Kigali 94.
Ntuyahaga is the first person to have handed himself over voluntarily to the ICTR. He presented himself to the ICTR in July and according to James Stewart for the prosecution, his "confused" statements to the ICTR are taking time to verify.
Serushago, too, is believed to be cooperating with the ICTR in exchange for protection measures. On Monday he was transported to the court separately from the other suspects who arrived together in one vehicle. A source close to the prosecution has indicated that Serushago may testify on events which took place during the genocide in the prefecture of Gisenyi.
In granting the prosecutor the extra days, Judge Kama said "the extension of detention should be the exception, not the rule", adding that the suspects had the right to know the reason for their arrest. He warned James Stewart for the prosecution that if the indictments were not drawn up in time, he would be obliged to let the suspects go.
According to ICTR rules, provisional detention may not exceed 90 days.
AC/FB/AT/FH (TP&0810E )
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