Two former Hutu leaders have gone to trial before a special court in France for allegedly conducting 'massive and systematic' executions of Tutsis in Rwanda. Prosecutors claim the pair took part in a refugee massacre.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/B. Curtis
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The defendants Tite Barahirwa and Octavien Ngenzi waived their right to remain silent, appearing before the Paris court.
Their trial is only the second case before the court established to shed light on war crimes in Rwanda, specifically on the genocide that claimed around 800,000 lives.
The photo above shows images of victims at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center in Kigali, Rwanda.
The initiative came after pressure from activist groups, in particular Alain and Dafroza Gauthier who have led the campaign for the special courts. The activists claim Paris had largely ignored the killings in its former colony.
Alain and Dafroza Gauthier who have led the campaign for the special courtsImage: Getty Images/AFP/D. Faget
Barahirwa and Ngenzi face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity over their alleged involvement in a 1994 massacre in the east Rwanda town of Kabarondo. According to the prosecutors, the two Hutu politicians played a direct role in killing hundreds of Tutsis who sought refugee in the local church.
The mass murder took place on April 13, only days after Rwanda's Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana died in an attack blamed on Tutsis.
On the day of the massacre, Barahirwa allegedly held a meeting at a soccer stadium, where local Hutu militiamen were ordered to "chase and kill ethnic Tutsis" throughout the town and especially at the church. Witnesses claim they saw Barahirwa, who was wielding a spear, calling for "work," considered a code word for executing Tutsis in Rwanda.
100 days of slaughter - the genocide in Rwanda
Life Links' newest episode #blamemyparents features Jean Claude who was conceived when his mother was raped during the Rwandan genocide. Here's a look back at the horrible events that lead to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Image: Timothy Kisambira
How it all began
On April 6, 1994, unidentified attackers shot down a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana as it was about to land at Kigali airport. President Habyarimana, his Burundian counterpart and eight other passengers died in the crash. The next day, organized killings began. Massacres continued over the course of three months, and at least 800,000 Rwandans lost their lives.
Image: AP
Targeted killings
After the assassination of the president, Hutu extremists attacked the Tutsi minority and Hutus who stood in their way. The murderers were well-prepared and targeted human rights activists, journalists and politicians. One of the first victims on April 7 was Prime Minister Agathe Uwiringiymana.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Appeals for help
In January 1994, Romeo Dallaire, commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), already wanted to act on information he had received about an "anti-Tutsi extermination" plot. But the warning he sent to the UN on January 11, later known as the "genocide fax", went unheard. And so did his desperate appeals after the genocide began, which were all rejected.
Image: A.Joe/AFP/GettyImages
Hate media
The Mille Collines radio station (RTLM) and Kangura, a weekly magazine, stoked ethnic hatred. In 1990 Kangura published the racist "Hutu Ten Commandments." Mille Collines radio, which was popular for its pop music and sports programs, fuelled the genocide by urging Hutu civilians to hunt down and kill Tutsis. Director Milo Rau devoted his film "Hate Radio" to these appalling broadcasts (photo).
Image: IIPM/Daniel Seiffert
Refuge in a hotel
In Kigali, Paul Rusesabagina hid over 1,000 people in the Hotel Des Mille Collines. Rusesabagina had taken over the position of the hotel's Belgian manager, who left the country. With a great deal of alcohol and money, he managed to prevent Hutu militias from killing the refugees. In many other places where people sought refuge, they were not able to escape the slaughter.
Image: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/GettyImages
Massacres in churches
During the Rwandan genocide, churches were no longer sanctuaries. About 4,000 men, women and children were murdered with axes, knives and machetes in the church of Ntarama near Kigali. Today the church is one of the country's many genocide memorials. Rows of skulls, human bones as well as bullet marks in the walls are a reminder of what happened there 20 years ago.
Image: epd
France's role
The French government maintained close ties to the Hutu regime. When the French army intervened in June, it enabled soldiers and militiamen responsible for the genocide to flee to Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, and take their weapons with them. They still pose a threat to Rwanda today.
Image: P.Guyot/AFP/GettyImages
Streams of refugees
During the genocide, millions of Rwandan Tutsis and Hutus fled to Tanzania, Zaire and Uganda. Two million of them went to Zaire alone. They included former members of the army and perpetrators of the genocide, who soon founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia that is still terrorizing the population in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo today.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Capture of the capital
On July 4, 1994, rebels from the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) patrolled the area around the Church of the Holy Family in Kigali. By that time they had liberated most of the country and routed the perpetrators of the genocide. However, human rights activists also accused the rebels of committing crimes, for which no one has been held accountable to this day.
Image: Alexander Joe/AFP/GettyImages
End of the genocide
On July 18, 1994, the RPF's leader, Major General Paul Kagame, declared that the war against the government troops was over. The rebels were in control of the capital and other important towns. Initially, they installed a provisional government. Paul Kagame eventually became Rwanda's president in the year 2000.
Image: Alexander Joe/AFP/GettyImages
Lasting scars
The Rwandan genocide went on for almost three months. The victims were often slaughtered with machetes. Neighbors killed neighbors. Not even babies and elderly people were spared, and the streets were strewn with corpses and body parts. Not only the physical scars on the bodies of the survivors remind Rwandans of the genocide. There is also a deep trauma that's still palpable today.
Image: Timothy Kisambira
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Breaching the church
Soon after, a few hundreds of armed Hutus attacked the church with machetes, spears, arrows and clubs. After the siege began, Rwandan armed forces joined in with weapons such as mortars, bombs and grenades.
"Shells were entering the church through the windows and roof, digging holes in the ground. Some people had their limbs torn apart," witness Jovithe Ryaka told investigators.
The attackers eventually managed to breach the church door and enter, killing the wounded and taking the survivors outside. Barahirwa and Ngenzi are said to have been present at the scene, separating the survivors by ethnicity, as some of the refugees were Hutu.
People identified as Tutsi were executed, and Barahirwa is charged with killing some of them himself.
Trial on camera
Both defendants had served as mayors of Kabarondo, with now 58-year old Ngenzi succeeding the 64-year old Barahirwa in 1986. The two leaders have denied carrying out "massive and systematic summary executions" and implementing a "concerted plan aimed at the annihilation" of the Tutsi minority.
The trial is expected to last for eight weeks, with more than 100 victims, relatives and witnesses appearing at the stand. The proceedings will also be recorded for historical purposes.
If convicted, Barahirwa and Ngenzi face life in prison.
