Resources
Friday, May 27, 2022
  • Login
Journalists for Justice
No Result
View All Result

Browse by Topic:

  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers
No Result
View All Result
Journalists for Justice
  • Home
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Human Rights
  • Elections
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Careers
No Result
View All Result
Journalists for Justice
No Result
View All Result
Home Victim Voices Rwanda

Kabuga pleads not guilty to genocide charges

Millicent ZighebyMillicent Zighe
November 13, 2020
in COVID-19, IRMCT, Victim Voices
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
0
Félicien Kabuga in courtroom I, during his Initial Appearance, on Wednesday 11 November 2020, in The Hague, Netherlands.

Félicien Kabuga in courtroom I, during his Initial Appearance, on Wednesday 11 November 2020, in The Hague, Netherlands.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Twenty-three years after he was first indicted by a United Nations criminal tribunal, Félicien Kabuga pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to seven counts of genocide for his alleged role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Kabuga made his plea on Wednesday before the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. In 2010 this court, commonly referred to as The Mechanism, took over the work of another United Nations court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

It was at the ICTR that Kabuga was first indicted in 1997 with seven counts of genocide as one of the suspected masterminds of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. This indictment was amended in 2011 soon after The Mechanism took over the handful of open cases that remained at the ICTR.

It was this amended 19-page indictment that Abubaccar Tambadou, the registrar of The Mechanism, read on Wednesday before Kabuga took a plea.

In the indictment Kabuga is alleged to have presided over a radio and television company, Radio Television Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM), that broadcast messages inciting its listeners against the Tutsi. According to the indictment, the RTLM broadcast where in Rwanda its listeners should go attack and kill Tutsis.

RelatedStories

Hope at last for Kenyan victims, but is TFV’s planned support enough?

With joy and tears, they welcomed truth commission’s verdict

Human rights groups join growing call for prosecution of Yahya Jammeh

In the indictment Kabuga is also alleged to have presided over a fund _ Fonds de Défense Nationale (FDN) or National Defence Fund _ that was used to buy weapons, vehicles, uniforms and alcohol for the Interahamwe, a Hutu extremist militia that carried out many of the killings in the genocide.

In the indictment Kabuga is further alleged to have formed his own militia, Kabuga’s Interahamwe, that he directed to attack and kill Tutsis in the Kimironko area of Kigali, Rwanda’s capital.

According to the indictment, Kabuga is alleged to have committed all these crimes between January 1, 1994 and July 17, 1994 in Kigali, Gisenyi and Kibuye. The indictment does not say how many deaths Kabuga is alleged to have been responsible for but at the end of the genocide an estimated 800,000 people were killed, most of them Tutsis. The genocide took place between April 7, 1994 and July 17, 1994.

“When carrying out the criminal conduct alleged in this indictment, Félicien Kabuga had the intent to destroy in whole or in part persons identified as Tutsis and acted to discriminate against Tutsis on racial and political grounds,” said Tambadou.

After Tambadou finished reading the indictment, Single Judge Iain Bonomy asked Kabuga whether he wished to make a plea at that point. Kabuga spoke to one of his lawyers closest to where he was seated and said he wished to remain silent.

“Given the situation, I would be grateful if you could consider this lack of response as a plea of not guilty on all the counts, under the rules and procedures,” Emmanuel Altit, Kabuga’s lead lawyer, asked the court.

For many people Kabuga’s appearance in court on Wednesday is the first time they got to see him since he fled Rwanda at the end of genocide in July 1994. His court appearance was streamed on the website of The Mechanism. Once he fled Rwanda Kabuga stayed in a number of African and European countries over the years but his identity became a source of mystery with the passage of time.

On Wednesday, Kabuga was in wheelchair, dressed in a dark blue suit, a light blue white striped shirt and a dark blue white polka dot tie. He also wore a dark blue sweater under his suit’s jacket.

At the start of Wednesday’s hearing Judge Bonomy confirmed Kabuga spoke and understood Kinyarwanda and he had a Kinyarwanda-speaking lawyer near him to assist him. Altit leads Kabuga’s legal team that is also made up of Jennifer Naouri and Dov Jacobs, all of whom were present in court on Wednesday.

Also early in the hearing Judge Bonomy said that a report on Kabuga’s health was being prepared by doctors where Kabuga is in custody. Judge Bonomy said the report would help the trial chamber decide how to take care of Kabuga’s health as the case against him progressed. During Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Bonomy stopped proceedings three times for allow for a 30-minute break each time. He did this for Kabuga to rest as Altit had said Kabuga was very tired. According to the indictment read in court, Kabuga is 85 years old.

In response to questions from Judge Bonomy, Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said he intends to file a further amended indictment by January next year. Brammertz said he estimated he would be ready for trial about six months after the court made a decision on the further amended indictment.

Bonomy conducted Wednesday’s hearing as a Single Judge because it was primarily a procedural one for the court to see Kabuga, confirm the language he communicates in, make sure he is informed of his fair trial rights and have the indictment read to him. In future hearings, Bonomy will be joined by Judges Graciela Susana Gatti Santana and Elizabeth Ibanda-Nahamya. Bonomy is the Presiding Judge of the three-person trial chamber overseeing the case against Kabuga.

As part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, everyone who was in the courtroom on Wednesday wore a face mask unless they were speaking. Judge Bonomy had plexiglass shielding him on three sides as did Kabuga where he was seated. The guards watching over Kabuga wore face shields and disposable gloves in addition to face masks.

Judge Bonomy observed at the start of Wednesday’s hearing that the court had to wait for 10 days after Kabuga arrived in The Hague, Netherlands to hold a hearing. He said this was a requirement of The Netherlands that anyone coming into the country needed to be quarantined for 10 days as a measure to prevent the possible spread of coronavirus.

Kabuga arrived in The Hague on October 26 after a court in France allowed him to be transferred to The Mechanism in execution of an arrest warrant that had been issued against Kabuga. The French court reached this decision in proceedings that began after Kabuga was arrested on May 16 this year near Paris, the French capital. His arrest in May in a flat belonging to one of his children ended Kabuga’s 23 years as a fugitive since he was first indicted in 1997.

Previous Post

Kenyan lawyer denies bribery charges at the ICC

Next Post

Bemba says he’s getting the runaround at the ICC over his assets

Millicent Zighe

Millicent Zighe

Related Posts

Elizabeth Atieno, a survivor of the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya and also an advocate against sexual violence, speaks in Nairobi during a function to mark the seventh International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict in June 2021. Photo Credit: Twitter

Hope at last for Kenyan victims, but is TFV’s planned support enough?

May 11, 2022
Zainab, the sister of Lt Lowe who disappeared after being accused of plotting to overthrow Yahya Jammeh in 2006, speaking during the release of the TRRC report to the public on December 24,2021.

With joy and tears, they welcomed truth commission’s verdict

January 7, 2022
The TRRC recommends the prosecution of Yahya Jammeh and several senior officials in his administration for their role in committing rape and other forms of SGBV.

Human rights groups join growing call for prosecution of Yahya Jammeh

December 10, 2021
The Gambia President Adama Barrow receives the final Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission, TRRC Report handed to him by the the TRRC Chairman, Dr. Lamin J Sise. Photo: TRRC Facebook

TRRC in last-ditch efforts to make its final report public

November 30, 2021
Justice hangs in the balance as Barrow softens stance on TRRC report

Justice hangs in the balance as Barrow softens stance on TRRC report

November 23, 2021
Protesters at the Ghana consulate in New York City urge the defeat of the anti-LGBTQ bill currently awaiting action in the Ghana parliament. (Photo courtesy of Rightify Ghana)

Ghana’s proposed anti-LGBT+ law turns focus on Africa and minority rights

November 9, 2021
Next Post
Jean-Pierre Bemba, seen here at the ICC in March 2016, was acquitted by the ICC Appeals Chamber in 2018 and has been trying to get back his assets since that acquittal.

Bemba says he’s getting the runaround at the ICC over his assets

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please login to comment
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
No Result
View All Result

Recent Posts

  • Said Abdel Kani to remain in custody as Appeals Chamber rejects his plea for release
  • Are we ready? CSOs audit Kenya’s election preparedness
  • Parties prepare to wind up Gicheru case
  • Hope at last for Kenyan victims, but is TFV’s planned support enough?
  • Gicheru asks ICC judge to admit new evidence

Recent Comments

  • JFJ - Journalists for Justice on Kenyan lawyer denies bribery charges at the ICC
  • JFJ - Journalists for Justice on You did me wrong, Bemba tells ICC as he demands 70 million euros
  • JFJ - Journalists for Justice on Two victims’ lawyers in Kenyatta case in line to become next ICC prosecutor
  • JFJ - Journalists for Justice on Profiles of the four people shortlisted for the job of ICC Prosecutor
  • Write My Essay on Afghanistan case fails to take off at the ICC — pragmatism’ or surrender to the powerful?

Archives

Categories

JFJ – Journalists for Justice

We call out impunity wherever it occurs; we advocate justice for all victims of atrocity crimes; and we work with people of goodwill everywhere who share our values.

Browse by Topics:

Archives by Month:

Never Again
INTAHE
BarometreVerite
The Victims' Bantaba
No Result
View All Result
  • Confronting Impunity
  • Communities of Justice
  • Opinion
  • About US
  • Our Work
  • Login

Copyright © 2019. Journalists for Justice has asserted its right to be recognized as creators and owners of the content here. Reproduction in part or in whole is permitted on condition that JFJ is acknowledged and notified.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
wpDiscuz