Kanyarukiga - JUDGEMENT AND SENTENCE - Refworld

Judgement and Sentence 1 November 2010
According to the witness, Seromba told the attackers that they were too few or that their numbers
were not sufficient. 718
287. Witness YAU testified that several of those who sought refuge at the Nyange Parish brought
sticks with them to the church. 719 “[S]ome days” after Witness YAU’s arrival, “Father Seromba,
accompanied by two gendarmes, came and … collected those sticks so that the gendarmes could
ensure our safety.” 720 She saw the gendarmes take the sticks away but could not recall the day on
which this occurred. 721
Prosecution Witness CBS
288. Witness CBS testified that,
All refugees arriving at the parish were not carrying any weapons. They were not carrying
traditional weapon [sic]. They were not carrying firearms. There were gendarmes who were
at the parish. So when a refugee would arrive there with a tradition[al] weapon, the
gendarmes would ask the refugee to put the weapon on the ground … before entering into
the church square or before going to the presbytery. 722
289. Witness CBS denied that the Tutsi who had taken refuge in the church were disarmed. 723
290. Witness CBS testified that, after the Tutsi sought refuge at the Nyange Church, they could
not leave the church compound. 724 According to the witness, “the gendarmes who were protecting
us were not even allowing us to go buy bread or any other food from the store that was nearby.” 725
The gendarmes were already at the parish when the witness arrived. 726
291. Witness CBS testified that there were small-scale attacks on the Nyange Church on
12, 13 and 14 April 1994, but the Tutsi were able to push back the attackers. 727
292. Witness CBS testified that those who sought refuge in the church asked Father Seromba for
food because they were hungry. 728 When Father Seromba refused, some Tutsi tried to collect
bananas from the parish banana plantation. 729 According to the witness, Father Seromba asked the
gendarmes who were posted at the parish to “shoot at any Tutsi who would venture or dare go into
718 T. 15 September 2009, pp. 14, 15.
719 T. 15 September 2009, p. 14 (“[T]hey had walking sticks and some others had big sticks.”). She denied that those
who had taken refuge at the church had machetes. T. 15 September 2009, p. 39.
720 T. 15 September 2009, pp. 14, 39. The witness explained that the gendarmes were permanently posted at the church
and that they were already there when she arrived. Witness YAU denied seeing policemen at the parish. T. 15
September 2009, pp. 39-40.
721 T. 15 September 2009, p. 14.
722 T. 17 September 2009, p. 11.
723 T. 17 September 2009, pp. 11-12 (“That operation never took place. I told you, no refugee had that traditional
weapon inside the church. So that operation never took place.”).
724 T. 16 September 2009, p. 48.
725 T. 16 September 2009, p. 48.
726 T. 16 September 2009, p. 48.
727 T. 17 September 2009, p. 10.
728 T. 16 September 2009, pp. 45, 46.
729 T. 16 September 2009, pp. 45, 46.
The Prosecutor v. Gaspard Kanyarukiga, Case No. ICTR-2002-78-T 68