Friday, March 03, 2006

DUH


And ain't this just swell?

Callixte Gakwaya, who was a lawyer with the Kigali Bar Association before the Genocide, is accused of having masterminded massacres in Ndera, Kigali City. He was hiding in Mozambique since 1994 until his recent appointment at International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Thanks to MISNA for the following report:



GENOCIDE: UN LAWYER ON MOST WANTED LIST

Callixte Gakwaya, a Rwandan lawyer recently appointed as defence counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Arusha (Tanzania), is suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The confirmation arrives from Aloys Mutabingwa, Rwanda’s representative to the ICTR, wanted by the United Nations to individuate responsibilities in the massacres. The Rwandan envoy revealed that Gakwaya's name appeared as “number 140” on the list of over 300 suspects consigned by the Interpol. Gakwaya was appointed as defence counsel for the former businessman Yusuf Munyakazi, who is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Cyangugu (in south Rwanda). After expressing surprise over the appointing of Gakwaya, Aloys Mutabingwa explained that the suspect must first be arrested where he is now and then handed over to the tribunal. The Rwandan government has on several occasions raised the issue of genocide suspects being in the employ of the tribunal, some of which have been arrested and indicted. The ICTR, created in 1995 with a 13-year mandate, has so far convicted 24 people and acquitted 3, while 17 are pending trial. It is estimated that in 1994 in Rwanda between half a million and 800,000 people (937,000 according to Kigali) were massacred, for the most part Tutsis but also Hutu, in turn victims of a retaliation by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) that seizing power officially ended the genocide.

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