Prosecutor welcomes life conviction of genocide suspect

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has welcomed Monday’s decision by the Appeals Chamber to uphold a lower court life sentence on the former Rwandan minister of higher education and scientific research, Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, for his role in the 1994 genocide.

"The decision clearly indicates the hard work put up by the prosecution team to prove the case beyond any doubt," Hassan Jallow, the tribunal's prosecutor, said. "It also confirms the credibility of our witnesses."

Presiding Judge Theodor Meron, of the United States, dismissed Kamuhanda’s appeal, saying it lacked sufficient grounds to overturn the 22 January 2004 ruling of the tribunal's Trial Chamber, the lower court.

The judgment was live broadcast from The Hague, the seat of the UN Court of Appeal.

The Appeals Chamber also rejected Kamuhanda’s arguments that he was denied the right to a fair trial, saying he had not demonstrated that the Trial Chamber had distorted his defense.

In its judgment, the Appeals Chamber recalled the Trial Chamber’s factual findings on which it based its conclusion that the appellant aided and abetted the commission of the crimes by leading the attackers at the Gikomero Parish on 12 April 1994; just six days after the mass slaughter began in Rwanda.

Judge Meron said that the Appeals Chamber found that the Kamuhanda, 53, gave orders to attack refugees at the parish that resulted in the death of a large number of refugees. The Appeals Court recalled that Kamuhanda also made inflammatory statements at Gikomero Commune.

"The Appeals Chamber finds that a reasonable tier of fact could arrive at the conclusion that the appellant aided and abetted the commission of crimes by his actions at the Gikomero Parish," Meron said.

The Appeals Chamber also ruled that Kamuhanda had held serious position and must be held responsible over his subordinates.

On Friday in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, local security officers helped the UN tribunal to arrest Joseph Serugendo; a former technical director at Rwanda's hate radio, Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines.

Jallow said the suspect was facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for his part in the genocide.

"Arrangements are underway to transfer Serugendo to the tribunal’s special detention facilities [in Arusha]," he said.

Serugendo was also a high ranking member of the Interahamwe, the extremist Hutu militia that took part in the killing of some 937,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in the 100-day genocide.

Since its establishment in November 1994, the tribunal has arrested 69 genocide suspects and made 25 judgments, including three acquittals. The trials of another 25 are underway.