\nArusha, 23 June 2008 (FH) - General Augustin Ndindiliyimana, former Chief of Staff of Rwandan National Police, Monday concluded his own defence testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) by urging Africans to resolve their problems themselves.
\nProsecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, General Ndindiliyimana, who has pleaded not guilty, had been on the witness stand since last Monday.\n<\/p>\n
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\n\u201cWe must, as Africans, seek solutions to our problems\u201d, stated the former boss of Gendarmerie, pointing to the recent crisis in Kenya and the political violence in Zimbabwe.
\n\u201cThe UN did not have the opportunity to accomplish their mission in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide\u2019\u2019, he added.
\nA UN force under the command of the Canadian General Romeo Dallaire was deployed in the small central African country during the genocide. According to Kigali, nearly a million people were killed, primarily ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. However, the UN estimates put the death told to be around 800,000.
\n\u201cWe must find a solution\u201d, he stressed, promising to contribute to his country\u2019s reconstruction.
\nHe finally invited the ICTR to seek true justice and to work hard to discover the truth.
\nThroughout his weeklong testimony, General Ndindilliyimana was presented as a neutral man who tried everything to save human lives during the April-July slaughter, one of the worst in the modern age.
\nHe indicated that day after 6 April 1994, the gendarmerie, primarily busy with defending itself from the attacks of the rebellion of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), could no longer ensure the security of the population.
\nThe Chamber was expected to start the testimony of defence witnesses for Major Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, the former Commander of Reconnaissance Battalion accused in the joint trial.
\nThe other suspects in the trial are: General Augustin Bizimungu, the former Chief of Staff of Army and Captain Innocent Sagahutu, who commanded a squadron within the reconnaissance battalion.
\nThe trial began in September 2004. The defendants have been in custody since 2000.
\nER\/PB\/MM\/SC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, 23 June 2008 (FH) - General Augustin Ndindiliyimana, former Chief of Staff of Rwandan National Police, Monday concluded his own defence testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) by urging Africans to resolve their problems themselves. Prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, General Ndindiliyimana, who has pleaded not guilty, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-15386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n