\nBrussels, 17 July 2008 (FH) - Rwandan genocide legal cases are heavy and difficult to manage, as well as on the investigation level as on the emotional and psychological load that they bring, Philippe Meire, assistant federal prosecutor with the federal prosecution in Belgium who has worked on these cases since 1999 has told Hirondelle Agency.
\nIn addition to the geographical distance - a universal problem when we must investigate into acts committed abroad, but that is felt here with a particular acuity - and the submission to \u201cgoodwill\u201d by the authorities of the countries concerned with investigating, the main difficulties come from the responsibility of bringing back evidence, which falls on the prosecution.\n<\/p>\n
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\n, he claimed.
\n\u201cBy the force of things, many witnesses disappeared or were killed\u201d, he explained. \u201cAmong the survivors, some can have difficulties testifying, because to testify means to them to relive horrible acts. They prefer thus not to work with justice, especially if they have been able to build a new life. And then there is the memory which can become blurry\u201d, he said.
\nThe word, generally parsimonious, of the defendants cannot mitigate this difficult research for witnesses: \u201cWe admit more easily to crimes of ordinary law. What explains that there are relatively few confessions, or they are partial. Rare are those who admit to having taken part in the inexpressible acts of a genocide.\u201d
\nFor other witnesses, it is the perception of a biased justice which would make them hesitate: \u201cSome consider that, for the acts relating to the genocide, justice is only interested in the crimes committed by only one side. This problem is particularly important at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). But it should not be forgotten that international justice has said that it is necessary to take care of the most serious acts first\u201d, he reminds. \u201cThat does not mean that war crimes, whose authors benefit from impunity, were not committed\u201d, he adds.
\nIn connection with the threats which weigh on the defence witnesses, Philippe Meire replied that \u201cthis rhetoric annoys him\u201d. \u201cThe opposite also exists\u201d, he affirms. \u201cPeople in Rwanda have had threats or criticisms because they came to testify for the prosecution. It should not be forgotten, inter alia, because of the release of prisoners, that genocidaires live in the hills of Rwanda next to survivors.\u201d
\nAccording to him, during the three trials already held in Belgium in connection with the genocide, \u201cthe crushing majority of defence witnesses came\u201d. There is the \u201cparticular case\u201d of ten witnesses who, at the time of the 2005 trial, did not want to return to Rwanda and filed requests for asylum which are still being investigated. \u201cBut there are among them as many witnesses for the prosecution as for the defence, and, if some speak about threats to support their requests, it can be tricky to disentangle what really is going on\u201d. During the Ntuyahaga trial of 2007, two Rwandan gendarmes, who had mentioned fears for their safety, fled from their lodging so as not to have to return to their country at the end of their defence testimonies- considered not to be very credible.
\n\u201cIn matters of international justice, the protection of witnesses, which is sometimes necessary, is set up in a system that is too rigid\u201d, he adds. He recalled that, before the Assize Court of Brussels, \u201cpeople openly testified\u201d. \u201cSystematic anonymity appears to me to create a problem of credibility for testimonies\u201d, he judges. And to stress that anonymity before the ICTR is \u201cquite relative, since identity is generally known by all the people in the case\u201d.
\nThese delicate investigations are carried out in Belgium by specialists, that of which few European countries have. Whereas France, in particular, considered only recently the creation of a \u201cunit\u201d to investigate crimes against humanity, Philippe Meire pointed out that such a unit, \u201cwas created gradually\u201d since a certain number of years in Belgium.
\n\u201cAfter the investigations following the first complaints, in 1995, and the return to the daily routine, it was necessary that a team of federal criminal investigation police saw itself allotted these missions, in addition to the rest. And now, four or five people have worked exclusively, for approximately two years, on these \" Belgian\u201d cases; that is to say within the framework of international judicial cooperation - for example with the ICTR\u201d, he explained. But this specialization is not found on the side of the investigation judge, \u201cwhat poses obvious problems of availability\u201d, he regretted.
\nForeign investigators and magistrates benefit from this experience, by the means of the \u201cnetwork of contact points of the EU, and by more abstract networks\u201d the people implicated who developed these last years, according to him. During a conference of specialists held at the beginning of July at the Belgian Parliament, a French magistrate working with penal cooperation at the ministry of justice affirmed that his country was \u201cthirsty and needed\u201d exchanges on the matter.
\nIn addition, the investigators are trained to prevent ethnocentric reflexes or possible misinterpretations. \u201cWe always proceed, as the first work of the investigation, with historical research so that the investigators impregnate themselves, as much as possible, with the context in which will proceed their investigation. It is the same principle which is at work when expert witnesses parade in the trials to enlighten the jury\u201d. However, \u201cnothing replaces field work\u201d, he concluded
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Brussels, 17 July 2008 (FH) - Rwandan genocide legal cases are heavy and difficult to manage, as well as on the investigation level as on the emotional and psychological load that they bring, Philippe Meire, assistant federal prosecutor with the federal prosecution in Belgium who has worked on these cases since 1999 has told Hirondelle […]<\/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-15523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n