DETAINEE WITNESS RECALLED AS EX-MAYOR'S TRIAL RESUMES

Arusha, November 26, 2001 The genocide trial of former Rwandan mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli resumed on Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) with a detainee prosecution witness being recalled to the stand. Defence counsel Lennox Hinds said he wanted to question protected witness "GAO" on "inconsistencies and omissions" in his July statements to the court, as compared with his written confessions in Rwanda.

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GAO took the stand, but the trial was then adjourned briefly so that an ICTR translator could read the documents to GAO, to "refresh his memory". GAO can neither read nor write. The witness is a self-confessed Interahamwe militiaman who told the court in July (23rd to 25th) that he personally participated in the killings of more than 600 Tutsis on the orders of former mayor Kajelijeli in 1994. GOA pleaded guilty to genocide in Ruhengeri (northwest Rwanda) in 1997 and is in jail there awaiting sentencing. Kajelijeli was mayor of Mukingo commune in Ruhengeri prefecture during the 1994 genocide. He has pleaded not guilty to eleven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. His trial began on July 4th this year, but was suspended at the end of that month before resuming for just one week in October. The case is alternating with two others ("Butare" and Kamuhanda) before the ICTR's Trial Chamber Two. In October, Kajelijeli's defence team said since prosecution did not furnish them with Witness GAO's statements to judicial authorities in Rwanda, Hinds had gone to Rwanda and obtained some of these statements. At the start of Monday's hearing, Hinds complained that his team were still trying to obtain such statements for other detainee prosecution witnesses. Prosecutor Kenneth Fleming of Australia said his team had earlier requestedthe documents from Rwandan Attorney General Gerald Gahima and had been told that "we are not going to get access to any Rwandan statements", because the Rwandan authorities were conducting their own investigations and didnot want "interference". Fleming said prosecution had renewed the request, but had so far received no reply from Gahima. He told the court that his team were "attempting to get access" on a case by case basis. "We can do no more," Fleming continued. "We are at the mercy of the Rwandan government in this respect. "Also on Monday, Kajelijeli's defence counsel Hinds announced he had submitted an urgent motion to the court on "harassment and intimidation" of defence witnesses. The court said it had been seized of the motion and would set a hearing date shortly. The case is before of judges William Hussein Sekule of Tanzania (presiding), Winston Churchill Matanzima Maqutu of Lesotho and Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar. JC/DO/FH (KJ1126e)