Former premier testifies before ICTR

Former Rwandan prime minister Faustin Twagiramungu testified on Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda as the first defence witness for Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son, Gerard who stand accused of crimes against humanity and genocide, the tribunal reported.

Twagiramungu gave a detailed analysis of the power struggle in Rwanda prior to the signing of the Arusha peace accords on 4 August 1993. He said the infighting between various political factions, including the Rwanda Patriotic Front, had blocked the establishment of a broad-based transitional government as provided for in the Arusha accords.

“He added that everyone was exploiting the Hutu/Tutsi factor for political and personal reasons,” the tribunal reported. Notwithstanding these problems, Twagiramungu said, he and his party, the Mouvement democratique republicain (MDR), had continued to work for peace and unity.

He said that the situation in Rwanda prior to the 1994 genocide was "hopeless, with rampant killings and assassinations" being carried out in various parts of the country, and civil war raging in the north.

Twagiramungu was prime minister designate before the genocide and served in the post between July 1994 and August 1995, when he resigned and fled to Kenya and later to Brussels, Belgium. He was also the chairman of the MDR in 1994.

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, a former pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and his son, Gerard, a medical doctor, are jointly accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with events at the Mugonero Church and Hospital complex in Kibuye Prefecture, western Rwanda.