\nArusha, March 9, 2004 (FH) - The twenty-second prosecution witness in the trial of four former Rwandan Ministers told the International CriminalTribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday that one of the accused, Jerome Bicamumpaka, had in 1994 ordered the killing of a Tutsi man at a roadblock in Gitarama. Bicamumpaka is being tried jointly with former Minister of Commerce Justin Mugenzi former minister of health, Casimir Bizimungu, and Prosper Mugiraneza, former minister of public serviceThe witness code-named QTA to conceal his identity, said he personally witnessed the man being killed by a soldier following instructions by Bicamumpaka, former minister of Foreign Affairs.\n<\/p>\n
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\nQTA recounted how he was on his way to Kigali to see his mother when the incident occurred. \u201cA vehicle carrying Bicamumpaka came. He pointed a finger at one man and said : \u2018you, John, aren't you a Tutsi?' He ordered that the man be shot,\u201d the witness stated. QTA added that immediately after the minister finished giving his orders, the man was dragged aside by soldiers who had been manning the roadblock and shot dead. \u201cI saw the soldiers shoot him,\u201d the witness explained. According to him there were about fifty people at the roadblock which was set up in front of the Gitarama prefecture offices. The people included soldiers, Interahmwe and civilians. QTA, a member of the Liberal Party Hutu power faction, explained that he first saw Bicamumpaka in Cyangugu during a meeting attended by former president Theodore Sindikubwabo and former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda. He placed the date of the meeting between April and 14th and 15th 1994. At the meeting, Kambanda spoke, telling the gathering that Tutsis were enemies of the country. He also said every Rwandan should be armed so as to fight the enemy. During cross-examination, Bicamumpaka's counsel, Pierre Gaudreau (Canada) sought to know from the witness why he never incriminated the accused when he pleaded guilty to genocide crimes at Rwanda national court in 1996. The witness replied that he never mentioned Bicamumpaka because he was never questioned about him. He added that he only talked of Bicamumpaka's alleged crimes when the ICTR investigators interviewed him. QTA had been sentenced to eleven years imprisonment but served eight years only and was released from prison in March last year. The cross-examination of QTA continues on Wednesday. Government II Trial is before Trial Chamber Two where Judge Asoka de Zoyza Gunawardana (Sri Lanka) is presiding, assisted by judges Lee Muthoga (Kenya) and Khalida Rashid Khan (Pakistan)PJ\/CE\/FH (GVII''0309e)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, March 9, 2004 (FH) - The twenty-second prosecution witness in the trial of four former Rwandan Ministers told the International CriminalTribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday that one of the accused, Jerome Bicamumpaka, had in 1994 ordered the killing of a Tutsi man at a roadblock in Gitarama. Bicamumpaka is being tried jointly with […]<\/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-18224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n