14.02.07 - ICTR/BIKINDI - INSIDE THE MUSIC OF AN ARTIST CHARGED WITH GENOCIDE

Arusha, February 14 2007 (FH) – A Rwandan linguist the prosecution has called to testify as an expert before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has puzzled out for the Tribunal the lyrics of Simon Bikindi, a musician accused of incitement to commit the genocide.A professor at the Institut National des Langues et Cvilisations Oientales in Paris, Jean de Dieu Karangwa appeared before the court last Monday and analyzed the content and style of Bikindi’s songs, three of which the prosecutor of the ICTR alleges have encouraged Hutus to kill Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. Bikindi is a famous singer in Rwanda. He and his ballet notably used to perform during the meetings of the presidential party. His songs, included the three ones the prosecutor is using as evidences, aired regularly on the radio and particularly on the Thousand Hills Free Radio and Television (RTLM), well-known for its Tutsi-targeted attacks. Jean de Dieu Karangwa has given his interpretation of « Twasezereye ingoma ya cyami » (We said goodbye to monarchy), a song Bikindi composed for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the independence of Rwanda in 1987. The linguist has explained that the song is about memory. « The memory that has to be kept alive by the Rwandans who got rid of the vote-catching, feudal, monarchist regime which had run the country for centuries », the expert commented. « The Rwandans he (the artist) talks to, they are not Tutsis», because they are not connected to the monarchy, the professor explained. Historians say that in the 1950s in Rwanda, the Belgian colons used the Tutsi monarchy to govern the country. « For the Rwandans, the colonization is a less painful memory than what the Tutsis have done », the expert stated.Jean de Dieu Karangwa added that the song « Twasereye ingoma ya cyami » was harmless originally. Only after the attack of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in 1990 by the rebels – Tutsis mostly – did it become injurious. « When danger is looming and you hear day in and day out that if Tutsis take power, things will be the same as before the independence, you can’t help but dislike them », the expert declared. According to him, it is virtually impossible to hate the regime without hating those connected to it, namely the Tutsis, he added.About « Nanga Abahutu » (I hate Hutus), the expert linguist has admitted that the title of the song can be misleading at first. He explained that one has to read through the entire lyrics to complete the title; he thinks the artist meant « I hate the Hutus who don’t hate Tutsis ».The expert separates Hutus into various categories, for instance those who would have abandoned their Hutu identity by marrying into the Tutsi community, or those who pocketed hush-money from Tutsis out of cupifity. Concerning the third song, "Bene Sebahinzi" (The Sons of the Father of the Cultivators), the expert explained that the singer meant to incite Hutus, traditionally cultivators, to attack Tutsis before they themselves would be attacked.Bikindi’s trial started on September 18 2006. Jean de Dieu Karangwa is the seventeenth witness on the prosecutor’s list. His testimony had raised mild protest on the part of the defense, already shaken by allegations of subordination of witnesses by a member of their team whose withdrawal has been required to protect the integrity of the procedure. The registrar has opened an investigation. The incriminated attorney has denounced an « intrigue ». Bikindi actually sided with this attorney and asked for the withdrawal of his fellow team member who endorsed the request of the prosecutor. Bikindi is represented by Mr. Wilfred Nderitu (Kenya) and Mr. Jean de Dieu Momo (Cameroon). It is the latter who is the subject of the registrar’s investigation. AT/PB/MG© Hirondelle News Agency