02.07.07 - ICTR/RWANDA - RUSESABAGINA'S ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE RPF ARE ONLY HEARSAY-THE ICTR

Arusha, 02 July 2007 (FH) - The allegations made against the former rebellion of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF, currently in power) by the hero of the film "Hotel Rwanda", Paul Rusesabagina, are based only on hearsay, indicated on Friday an official statement released by the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).   

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In November 2006, Rusesabagina had written to the Prosecutor of the ICTR, accusing the RPF of having perpetrated in 1994 crimes for which the United Nations Tribunal has jurisdiction over. He stated to hold evidence of these charges.
 
«He offered nothing more than hearsay information that is of no value in our work »; indicates the text, which stresses that a team of ICTR investigators went to meet Rusesabagina.
 
"The office of the Prosecutor has made no promises whatsoever to Mr. Rusesabagina", underlined the official English statement of Timothy Gallimore, spokesperson for the office of the Prosecutor.
 
"We are conducting investigations into crimes allegedly committed by members of the army of the Rwandan Patriotic Front in 1994", the text continues.

The office of the Prosecutor affirms that ""in due course, a decision will be taken based on the results of those investigations".

During the 1994 genocide, Rusesabagina, who is now living in Belgium, managed, in Kigali, the Hotel des Mille Collines where a thousand Tutsis, including his wife, had found refuge.

Some of these survivors regard him as a hero who saved them while others accuse him of being an impostor.

The name of Paul Rusesabagina irrupted on to the international scene at the time of the release, in December 2004, of the film "Hotel Rwanda" in which he is the principal character and which received several prizes.

ER/MM/AT

© Hirondelle News Agency