HUTUS MASSACRED TUTSIS AT A CONVENT, WITNESS SAYS

Arusha, December 4th, 2002 (FH)- A witness testifying in defence of former Mukingo Mayor Juvénal Kajelijeli on Wednesday told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda that a large crowd of Hutus massacred Tutsis who had sought refuge at a convent in Busogo Parish in April 1994. The witness dubbed KAA for protection of identity said the attackers set upon the victims at the nuns convent using grenades and rifles on the morning of April 7th 1994.

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The attackers identified as Hutus by the witness were a large crowd but he could not give the exact number. KAA who is the tenth defence witness said the crowd headed towards the parish as they sang, "let us exterminate them”. The witness declared he decided to follow them until the parish where he stayed for one and a half hours as they executed the killings. "I went to the inner courtyard where I saw bodies with broken skulls. Some of them were on the batch of the grass while some were near the wall and the veranda. " the witness said. He went on," the incident I witnessed really scared me. I was disturbed and I decided to leave the place. KAA who was led in chief examination by Kajelijeli's defence attorney, Lennox Hinds of the United States told the court that he identified the attackers as Hutus but that he never saw Kajelijeli, whom he knew very well, at the Parish during the attack. He added that Kajelijeli was not among the attackers whom he had trailed up to the parish. "At that time Kajelijeli was not someone who could walk at the same pace as the attackers because of his physical condition. He had to be in a motor vehicle and I never saw it either. " the witness said. The prosecution claims that Kajelijeli participated in massacres of ethnic Tutsis in Mukingo and adjoining communes. Another witness ZLG began his testimony in the afternoon and will continue testifying on Thursday. This trial is before ICTR's Trial Chamber Two, comprising Judges William Hussein Sekule of Tanzania (presiding), Arlette Ramaroson (Madagascar) Winston Churchhill Matanzima Maqutu (Lesotho). PJ/CE/FH (KJ-12203e)