Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
14 February 2008
Arusha — Burundian Hutu refugees attacked Tutsis in southern Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, claimed a protected witness who testified Thursday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), trying key suspects of the slaughter.
The witness, who testified under the pseudonym "CBP-77" for safety reasons, added that the attack was launched with armed rifles around 20 April at the Kansi Parish Church, where several Tutsis had sought refuge.
He rejected the prosecutor's argument that Rwandan gendarmes had launched the attack.
"I knew the uniform of the gendarmes, if they had been there, I would have recognized them", stressed the witness, who was testifying for the defence of General Augustin Ndindiliyimana, former Chief of Staff of the Gendarmerie, during 1994 genocide.
Accused of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, the General is in particularly prosecuted for not having sanctioned gendarmes implicated in the massacres.
The witness indicated to have seen gendarmes only at the residence of the defendant located, according to him, between two and three kilometres from the Parish.
General Ndindiliyimana is on trial alongside three other officers of the former Rwandan Armed Forces (RAF), including the former army Chief of Staff, General Augustin Bizimungu.
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Idon't understand why these western people they can't have their mind judgemental think ,how come all the high positions can be involve in genocide it means that none was out of that so called genocide of tutsis only when we see many repots saying how kagame and his stuff were killing huts and sometimes they killing tutsis who they didn,t beliee that he is tutsis or what kagame was saying that tutsis who lived in rwanda behaved the sameway as hutus ,so he killed them in that way of thinking.hte aim of kagame and his acolytes extremists is to exterminate… [Read Full Text]