22.05.09 - ICTR/WEEKLY SUMMARY - KIGALI REITERATES TRANSFER OF GENOCIDE SUSPECTS' TRIALS TO RWANDA

Arusha, 22 May, 2009(FH)-The Prosecutor General of Rwanda, Martin Ngoga, met his counterpart Hassan Jallow Thursday in Arusha to reiterate request for transfer of genocide suspects to Kigali to stand trials.

1 min 36Approximate reading time

According to Ngoga, Rwanda has now removed all obstacles which were hindering the transfers.

Last year, the Prosecutor filed five motions which were all rejected by the ICTR Chambers and confirmed by the Appeals Court.

Meanwhile, the former Minister for Interior and former Vice-President of the then Rwandan presidential party, Edouard Karemera, affirmed Tuesday before ICTR that the government in place during the 1994 genocide was powerless to stop the massacres.

There was no longer any authority or respect in the country, Karemera stressed, adding that all those who moved within the country were confronted with crimes, roadblocks and massacres from rampaging groups of people.

He is accused of crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. He is on joint trial alongside the former president and secretary-general of the MRND, Mathieu Ngirumpatse and Joseph Nzirorera, respectively. All three have claimed their innocence.   

In another development, the ICTR Chamber has ordered the Prosecutor to clarify some of the charges brought against the former sub-prefect Dominique Ntawukulilyayo in order to enable the defendant prepare his defence adequately, reports Hirondelle Agency.

In a decision posted on Wednesday on the ICTR website, the Chamber directed the ICTR Prosecutor to clarify a paragraph of his indictment in which he alleges the participation of Ntawukulilyayo in a meeting held "between 1 May and July 17 July 1994 at the commerce center of Gisagara".

The sub-prefecture of Gisagara, which he directed in 1994, included the communes of Kibayi, Muganza, Muyaga, Ndora and Nyaruhengeri.

A protected prosecution witness claimed Thursday that Ntawukulilyayo, commended ethnic Hutus for killing ethnic Tutsis, including over 100 allegedly drowned into River Akanyaru, located between Rwanda and Burundi.

The witness, who is the eleventh to testify so far in the trial against former Sub-Prefect of Gisagara in Butare, Southern Rwanda, said the defendant conveyed his overjoy when addressing a meeting at a Muganza Commune market, Butare in May, 1994.

The defence case of the former Rwandan military officer, Lt. Col. Ephrem Setako on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity have so far presented 13 witnesses.

Lead defence counsel for the accused, American Professor Lennox Hinds Monday told Hirondelle News Agency that his team has scheduled to field a total of 35 witnesses.

Lt. Col Setako is facing six charges including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He denied the charges. The trial continues Tuesday.

SC/GF

© Hirondelle News Agency