Kanyarukiga - JUDGEMENT AND SENTENCE - Refworld

Judgement and Sentence 1 November 2010
2. Killings of Tutsi Civilians in Kivumu commune after 6 April 1994
2.1. Introduction
138. Paragraphs 9 and 10 of the Amended Indictment read as follows:
2.2. Evidence
9. Following the death of the Rwandan President on 6 April 1994[,] Tutsi civilians
were attacked in their homes in Kivumu Commune[,] resulting in the death of some of
them[,] including Grégoire NDAKUBANA, Martin KAREKEZI and Thomas
MWENDEZI.
10. As a result of the said attacks[,] Tutsi civilians sought refuge in public buildings
such as the [c]ommunal office and the Nyange Parish Church.
Prosecution Witness CDL
139. Witness CDL, a Hutu, participated in the killings at the Nyange Parish Church in April
1994. 303 He was arrested in 1997, tried by the Gacaca courts and sentenced to 20 years of
imprisonment for his involvement in the crimes committed in Nyange. 304
140. Witness CDL testified that on 7 April 1994, he met Ndungutse, the vice-chair of the MRND
party in Kivumu, who told him that everything had to be done to avenge the death of the President,
“who had been shot down by the [i]nyenzi [i]nkotanyi.” 305 Witness CDL further testified that
Ndungutse had asked young people from his locality to attack members of the Tutsi population, but
they refused because they were afraid of being punished. 306 Ndungutse told Witness CDL that he
had just been to the communal office, where he had requested authorisation to attack the Tutsi. 307
The witness testified that Ndungutse received authorisation for the attacks from the inspector of the
judicial police and the canton court president. 308 “[Ndungutse] wanted to make the assailants in this
locality understand that they would not be prosecuted for any attacks they launched against their
neighbours.” 309
141. On the night of 7 April 1994, Ndungutse led attacks at the home of Grégoire Ndakubana,
during which some children in Ndakubana’s family were killed. 310 On 8 April 1994, the IPJ, the
president of the canton court and the brigadier of the commune went to the home of Grégoire
Ndakubana, who had asked for assistance. 311 These officials did not prepare a report but rather
303 Prosecution Exhibit P52 (Personal Identification Sheet of Witness CDL); T. 10 September 2009, p. 32; T. 10
September 2009, pp. 54-55 (CS); T. 11 September 2009, p. 23.
304 T. 10 September 2009, p. 55 (CS).
305 T. 10 September 2009, pp. 20, 21, 22. According to Witness CDL, Ndungutse was a primary school teacher from
Murambe.
306 T. 10 September 2009, pp. 21-22
307 T. 10 September 2009, pp. 21-22.
308 T. 10 September 2009, pp. 21-23 (“Ndungutse went to the commune office in the Kivumu commune, and when he
got there, the bourgmestre was not present. [So,] he talked to the collaborator of the bourgmestre, notably, the IPJ at the
time, and the [c]anton court president. … The president of the [c]anton court was called Habiyambere, Joseph. He was
nicknamed Gaca Buterezi. The IPJ was called Fulgence Kayishema.”).
309 T. 10 September 2009, p. 23.
310 T. 10 September 2009, p. 21. Others were wounded and were taken to the Nyange Health Centre the following day.
Witness CDL testified that Ndakubana, a Tutsi, was Ndungutse’s neighbour, “and every time there was trouble or there
were disturbances, Ndungutse would go and attack Ndakubana’s family”. T. 10 September 2009, p. 23; T. 11
September 2009, p. 28.
311 T. 10 September 2009, p. 25.
The Prosecutor v. Gaspard Kanyarukiga, Case No. ICTR-2002-78-T 33