Rwanda Genocide
The bloodiest period of the Rwanda Civil War
Tutsi rebels and Hutu regime were able to agree to a cease-fire, with the preliminary implementation of the Arusha Accords, in 1993. The genocide was primarily the action of two statutory factions, the MRND (political wing of the Interahamwe) and the CDR (political wing of the Impuzamugambi ), against dissenters to their culture of Hutu power.
An attempt to exterminate Tutsi minority of Rwanda,and the moderates of Hutus majority.
Tutsi men, women, children and babies were killed in thousands in schools. They were killed in churches. The victims, in their last moments alive, were also faced by another appalling fact: their cold-blooded killers were people they knew neighbours, friends, sometimes even relatives. Even aid agencies were helpless; having let into compound or hospital people injured or in flight, they were forced to leave them there.
Physically and Psychologoically affected.
Within a period of three months in 1994, an estimated five to eight hundred thousand people were killed as a result of civil war and genocide in Rwanda. Large numbers were physically and psychologically afflicted for life through maiming, raping, and other trauma; over two million fled to neighboring countries and maybe half as many have been internally displaced.
No Bravery - Rwanda Genocide


News Articles
ICTR refuses third suspect's bid to be tried in Rwanda
Fri Jun 20, 1:21 PM ET
ARUSHA, Tanzania (AFP) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has rejected a request to return another genocide suspect to Rwanda on the grounds that he would not receive a fair trial. Ildephonse Hategekimana, a former captain, is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity including crimes committed by his subordinates. Hategekimana served as the commander of a small military camp during the 1994 genocide. The tribunal was not satisfied that Rwanda could ensure Hategekimana would be able to get his defence witnesses to testify under the same conditions as those testifying against him, said the 25-page written judgment.
The judges also expressed concern about the sentence the defendant might face: "Life imprisonment in isolation, in violation of his right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment." The judges nevertheless said they appreciated "the significant progress" Rwanda had made in improving its judicial system. Earlier this month, the tribunal also refused to return former businessman Gaspard Kanyarukiga, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, to Rwanda, arguing it was not satisfied he would receive a fair trial. And a week before that ruling, they reached a similar decision in the case of another suspect, businessman Yussuf Munyakazi. The public prosecutor is to appeal in both cases. The ICTR, set to wrap up its mandate by the end of 2008, is in theory supposed to transfer certain suspects to stand trial in their national jurisdictions. On June 4, ICTR President Dennis Byron and ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow asked the UN Security Council to extend the court's mandate by one year. Eight suspects are still waiting to stand trial, while another is detained in Germany and 13 are on the run. The Court has so far sentenced 30 people and acquitted five. According to UN figures, approximately 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis but also moderate Hutus, were killed in the Rwandan genocide between April and July of 1994.ARUSHA, Tanzania (AFP) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has rejected a request to return another genocide suspect to Rwanda on the grounds that he would not receive a fair trial. Ildephonse Hategekimana, a former captain, is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity including crimes committed by his subordinates. Hategekimana served as the commander of a small military camp during the 1994 genocide. The tribunal was not satisfied that Rwanda could ensure Hategekimana would be able to get his defence witnesses to testify under the same conditions as those testifying against him, said the 25-page written judgment. The judges also expressed concern about the sentence the defendant might face: "Life imprisonment in isolation, in violation of his right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment." The judges nevertheless said they appreciated "the significant progress" Rwanda had made in improving its judicial system. Earlier this month, the tribunal also refused to return former businessman Gaspard Kanyarukiga, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, to Rwanda, arguing it was not satisfied he would receive a fair trial. And a week before that ruling, they reached a similar decision in the case of another suspect, businessman Yussuf Munyakazi. The public prosecutor is to appeal in both cases. The ICTR, set to wrap up its mandate by the end of 2008, is in theory supposed to transfer certain suspects to stand trial in their national jurisdictions. On June 4, ICTR President Dennis Byron and ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow asked the UN Security Council to extend the court's mandate by one year. Eight suspects are still waiting to stand trial, while another is detained in Germany and 13 are on the run. The Court has so far sentenced 30 people and acquitted five. According to UN figures, approximately 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis but also moderate Hutus, were killed in the Rwandan genocide between April and July of 1994.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080620/wl_africa_afp/rwandaictrgenocidecourt_080620172155

No comments: