“We must, as Africans, seek solutions to our problems”, stated the former boss of Gendarmerie, pointing to the recent crisis in Kenya and the political violence in Zimbabwe.
“The UN did not have the opportunity to accomplish their mission in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide’’, he added.
A UN force under the command of the Canadian General Romeo Dallaire was deployed in the small central African country during the genocide. According to Kigali, nearly a million people were killed, primarily ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. However, the UN estimates put the death told to be around 800,000.
“We must find a solution”, he stressed, promising to contribute to his country’s reconstruction.
He finally invited the ICTR to seek true justice and to work hard to discover the truth.
Throughout his weeklong testimony, General Ndindilliyimana was presented as a neutral man who tried everything to save human lives during the April-July slaughter, one of the worst in the modern age.
He indicated that day after 6 April 1994, the gendarmerie, primarily busy with defending itself from the attacks of the rebellion of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), could no longer ensure the security of the population.
The Chamber was expected to start the testimony of defence witnesses for Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, the former Commander of Reconnaissance Battalion accused in the joint trial.
The other suspects in the trial are: General Augustin Bizimungu, the former Chief of Staff of Army and Captain Innocent Sagahutu, who commanded a squadron within the reconnaissance battalion.
The trial began in September 2004. The defendants have been in custody since 2000.
ER/PB/MM/SC