CROSS-EXAMINATION OF EXPERT WITNESS IS NOT COMPLETE, ACCORDING TO KABILIGI’S DEFENCE

Arusha, November 20th, 2002 (FH) - The defence of General Gratien Kabiligi, one of the accused in the military trial, on Wednesday said the cross-examination of Human Rights activist and expert witness Alison Des Forges “is incomplete”. Kabiligi's defence attorney Jean Degli of Togo/France had been cross-questioning Des Forges since the trial resumed on Monday, November 18th.

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Des Forges, a Senior Advisor (Africa Division) for the Human Rights Watch is the first prosecution witness. The defence attorney said he would have to cross-examine Des Forges at a later stage on her report that the Rwandan Army purchased 20,000 arms from South Africa in 1992. Des Forges had told the court that she did not have her notes in court on the issue but Jean Degli insisted the chamber should order her to consult the notes. The president said Des Forges would be asked to come to court with the notes if the need arises. The military trial groups Théoneste Bagosora who was former advisor at the Rwandan defence ministry (chef de cabinet), and three others, Lieutenant Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, Major Aloys Ntabakuze and General Gratien Kabiligi. The prosecution allege the four were key figures in organising the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The chamber also viewed a documentary produced by TV5 of France on the assassination of Rwanda Former Interior Minister in 1994-1995 Seth Sendashonga in Nairobi on 16 May 1998. The documentary implies that the RPF, still in power in Kigali, was behind Sendashonga’s assassination. Degli presented the tape in order to demonstrate that the RPF had perpetrated killings of Hutu civilians and dignitaries before and after the 1994 genocide. The tape was eventually admitted as a defence exhibit, although Judge Lloyd George Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis presiding cast some doubt as to the relevance of the tape in this trial. Jean Degli cross-examined Des Forges on the documentary in which she was also interviewed about Sendashonga's role in Rwandan politics and his death. The cross-examination of Alison Des Forges by Lieutenant Colonel Nsengiyumva's defence counsel, Gershom O. Bw'Omwanwa of Kenya started in the afternoon and will continue on Thursday. This trial is before ICTR's Trial Chamber Three comprising judges Lloyd George Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis, (presiding) Pavel Dolenc of Slovenia and Andresia Vaz of Senegal. PJ/CE/FH (ML-1120e)