\nArusha, 5 November 2008 (FH) - An officer of former Rwandan Army, Lieutenant Bernard Uwizeyimana, denied Wednesday during his brief testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that soldiers in 1994 committed rapes against ethnic Tutsi women and girls at the Kigali Hospital Center (KHC).\n<\/p>\n
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\n"I never learned that", claimed Uwizeyimana, by stressing that there he had himself remained hospitalized at the KHC from 13 to 19 April 1994, after being wounded on the forehead as he tried to contain the advance of the former rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF, currently in power).\n<\/p>\n
\n"I left the KHC because the shells fell on the hospital", added the lieutenant who was called to the stand by Captain Innocent Sagahutu, former commander of a squadron of the reconnaissance battalion.\n<\/p>\n
\nAt the end of the testimony of the former officer, who currently lives in Congo-Brazzaville, the trial was adjourned until next Monday, for lack of availability of witnesses.\n<\/p>\n
\nQuestioned over this by presiding judge, Asoka da Silva, Sagahutu's lawyer, Fabien Segatwa, blamed the ICTR Registry to which he had transmitted list of his witnesses and the order in which he intended to call them.\n<\/p>\n
\nCaptain Sagahutu is on trial alongside former Commander of Reconnaissance Battalion, Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, former Chief of Staff of Army, General Augustin Bizimungu and former Head of Gendarmerie, General Augustin Ndindiliyimana.\n<\/p>\n
\nAccused of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, the four officers have pleaded not guilty. They have been in detention for six and eight years.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe trial started in September 2004 and the Captain is the last to call his witnesses\n<\/p>\n
\nER\/PB\/MM\/SC\/GF\n<\/p>\n
\n© Hirondelle News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, 5 November 2008 (FH) - An officer of former Rwandan Army, Lieutenant Bernard Uwizeyimana, denied Wednesday during his brief testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that soldiers in 1994 committed rapes against ethnic Tutsi women and girls at the Kigali Hospital Center (KHC).<\/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-20736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n