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Information, Documentation and Training Agency, Arusha (Tanzania): International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

ICTR - Simon Bikindi, musician


MARCH 8TH, 2003
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ICTR/BIKINDI

MUSICIAN AGAIN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO GENOCIDE

Arusha, March 8th, 2003 (FH) – A famous Rwandan musician being held at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), on Monday pleaded not guilty to six counts of genocide related charges.

In the amended indictment, Simon Bikindi, 49, is particularly accused of using his music to incite hatred of Tutsis in the run-up to the 1994 genocide which claimed an estimated one million people.

He is also accused together with other top military and civilian official of helping train Interahamwe militia with the sole aim of eliminating Tutsis. The indictment details a number of killings that it says the accused played a leading role in.

The prosecution maintains that there was a well laid-out plan to eliminate Tutsis and Hutu members of the opposition and that “Simon Bikindi’s musical
compositions and live performances and recruitment, training and command of Interahamwe, were elements of the plan to mobilize civilian militias to destroy, in whole or in part, the Tutsi”.

The tribunal read out six counts that include genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, murder and persecution as crimes against humanity as well as conspiracy to commit genocide. Most of the crimes were allegedly committed in Kigali and the north western town of Gisenyi.

In Bikindi’s first initial appearance, on April 04, 2001, the count of persecution was not included.

The amended indictment says that Bikindi “consulted with President Juvenal Habyarimana, Minister of Youth and Sports Callixte Nzabonimana and MRND-aligned military authorities on song lyrics” before releasing his music, which was widely played on the extremist Radio Télévision Libre de Mille Collines (RTLM) and the government owned Radio Rwanda..

It continues that even after the interim government had fled to the former Zaire, Bikindi continued to compose music that incited the Hutu population against the Tutsi.

When judge Lloyd George Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis asked the tall heavy-set man smartly turned out in a grey suit as to how he pleaded, Simon Bikindi did not hesitate: “The truth shall prevail over lies, love shall prevail over hatred. I plead not guilty to all charges”, he stated.

Bikindi was arrested in Leiden (The Netherlands) on July 12, 2001 and transferred to the ICTR one week later. He is defended by Wilfred Nderitu from Kenya.

The date for the beginning of Bikindi's trial has not been set yet.

KN/CE/FH (BK’0308e)



APRIL 04, 2002
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ICTR / BIKINDI

MUSICIAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO GENOCIDE CHARGES

Arusha, April 4th, 2002 (FH) - Rwandan musician and genocide suspect Simon Bikindi, 48, on Thursday pleaded not guilty to five counts of genocide charges before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

"Loyally and honestly, I plead not guilty," Bikindi, who was wearing a suit, stated after each count was read out to him.

Bikindi is charged with conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, murder as a crime against humanity and persecution as a crime against humanity.

According to the prosecution, Bikindi collaborated with the late Rwandan head of state, Juvénal Habyarimana, the former Minister for Youth and Sports Callixte Nzabonimana, national political leaders as well national militia leaders to militarise and indoctrinate youth with anti-Tutsi ideology.

The youth in question became part of the mainly Interahamwe (militia) for the ruling political party of the day, MRND, of which Bikindi was a member. Bikindi is also accused of recruiting and training Interahamwe militia and inciting public officials and local populace to kill Tutsis.

Some of the individuals Bikindi is said to have collaborated with are already detained by the ICTR. They include Ferdinand Nahimana and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza (both accused in the so-called Media Trial), Anatole Nsengiyumva (in the Military trial), and Joseph Nzirorera.

Bikindi, born on September 15th, 1954 in Rwerere commune, Gisenyi prefecture, was a well-known composer and singer of popular music during the period referred to in his indictment. He was also director of a performance group Irindiro Ballet and an official in the Rwandan Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The prosecution maintains that Bikindi agreed with or collaborated with authors of a scheme to "defeat the enemy militarily, in the media and politically"; the enemy being the Tutsi inside and outside the country and their "accomplices".

Callixte Nzabonimana, Minister of Youth and Sports and an MRND member, allegedly authorized and sponsored Bikindi's compositions and live performances of the Irindiro Ballet dance troupe through the Ministry.

"Simon Bikindi's song lyrics manipulated the politics and history of Rwanda to promote Hutu solidarity," says the prosecution. The music was allegedly played on the 'hate media' Radio-Television des Milles Collines (RTLM).

Prosecution adds that between April and June 1994, Bikindi's music, particularly compositions called 'Bene sebahinzi' and 'Naga abahutu', was played repeatedly throughout the day. Bikindi's music has been banned in Rwanda since the end of the 1994 genocide.

During his initial appearance, the court heard how Bikindi, in July 1994, ordered the killing of a Tutsi woman hiding in the ceiling of her house under protection of her Hutu husband. The victim, Ancilla, was discovered by Bikindi's Interahamwe colleagues, Noël and Pascal, and he reportedly ordered them to take her away. The two allegedly killed the woman and her four-year-old daughter at the orders of Bikindi and buried her in a shallow grave.

The prosecution also accuses Bikindi of operating a vehicle fitted with a public address system in Gisenyi province in June 1994, from which he was announcing: "The majority population, it's you, the Hutu I am talking to. You know the minority population is the Tutsi. Exterminate quickly the remaining ones." Bikindi is alleged to have broadcast his music from the same vehicle, as he was leading an Interahamwe caravan.

The musician was arrested on July 12th, 2001 in Leiden, the Netherlands, by Dutch authorities at the request of the ICTR Prosecutor. He lost a legal battle against his extradition to the ICTR and was transferred to the ICTR's UN detention facility on March 28th, 2002.

Bikindi appeared before ICTR's Trial Chamber Three judge, Pavel Dolenc of Slovenia. ICTR duty counsel, Barhat Chadha of Tanzania represented Bikindi.

SW/JA/FH (SB-0404e)

MARCH 28TH, 2002
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ICTR/BIKINDI

RWANDAN POP STAR TRANSFERRED TO UN TRIBUNAL TO FACE GENOCIDE CHARGES

Arusha, March 28th, 2002 (FH) - Genocide suspect and Rwandan musician Simon Bikindi was on Wednesday transferred from a Dutch detention centre to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to face genocide charges.

Bikindi, 48, was arrested on July 12th 2001 in Leiden, the Netherlands, by Dutch authorities at the request of the ICTR Prosecutor. He has since lost a legal battle against his extradition to the ICTR.

The former director of Indiro ballet, who was one of the most popular musicians in Rwanda, is notably charged with having composed and performed songs demonising Tutsis and inciting Hutus to kill Tutsis. Bikindi's music has been banned in Rwanda since the end of the 1994 genocide.

Bikindi is charged with six counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide and
murder and persecution as crimes against humanity. An estimated one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda according to an official survey by the government of Rwanda.

Bikindi was an official in the ministry of youth and sports and a member of the ruling MRND party in 1994.

GG/JA/FH(SB-0328e)


JULY 12th, 2001
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ICTR/ ARRESTS

RWANDA TRIBUNAL MAKES THREE MORE ARRESTS IN EUROPE

Arusha, July 12th, 2001 (FH) - A former finance minister, a catholic military chaplain and a musician were on Thursday arrested in three European countries on arrest warrants from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), official sources confirmed. All three face genocide charges.

Former minister Emmanuel Ndindagahizi was arrested in Belgium, according to ICTR spokesman Kingsley Moghalu. Ndindagahizi was Minister of Finance in the Rwandan interim government in place during the 1994 genocide. Charges against him include genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, extermination and murder as crimes against humanity.

Musician Simon Bikindi was arrested in the Netherlands. Bikindi was a well-known composer and singer whose songs were used during the war and genocide, notably on "hate radio" Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). He is charged with conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide or alternatively complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, murder and persecution as crimes against humanity.

Emmanuel Rukundo was arrested in Switzerland. At the time of the genocide in Rwanda, he was a military chaplain in Ruhengeri prefecture, northwest Rwanda and then transferred to the capital Kigali. He is charged with genocide or, alternatively, complicity in genocide; murder and extermination as crimes against humanity.

ICTR spokesman Moghalu said these arrests were "very important developments" in the work of the Tribunal and "another sign of the effective cooperation that we are receiving from states". He said he hoped the three would be transferred to the UN prison in Arusha as soon as possible.

Moghalu also said the arrests showed that the ICTR had a "thematic and geographic strategy" to its indictments. It has arrested alleged planners, financiers and supporters of the genocide, he said, "and now we have added a musician".

Rukundo is also the first catholic cleric to be arrested by the Tribunal. It has already in its custody a Seventh Day Adventist Pastor, due to go on trial shortly, and an Anglican bishop. Moghalu could not say whether any of the accused arrested Thursday might be joined to other accused for trial.

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