International
Paris: Rwanda Minister Bizimana Appears For Prosecution In Bucyibaruta Genocide Trial
![image](webadmin/images/blob (2).jpg-20220703111308000000.jpg)
On
June 30, Rwanda’s Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement Dr Jean
Damascène Bizimana was the main witness of the day at the Paris Criminal Court,
against Laurent Bucyibaruta, former prefet of Gikongoro prefecture during the
1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
Bucyibaruta
has been appearing for a good part of two months over Genocide crimes he is
alleged to have committed in Gikongoro. After the Genocide, he fled to
neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) and later on managed to fly to
France.
Dr.
Bizimana who happens to be originated from Gikongoro lost 84 family members
including his parents and siblings in the Genocide according to his testimony.
He
explained the background of the hatred against Tutsi in Rwanda. He said that
after finishing his high school in 1982, he returned to his Cyanika town to
contribute to his country development as a teacher where he got an opportunity
to work closely with Father Joseph Niyomugabo.
In
1988, he had understood that the injustice against the Tutsi was beyond bearing
and thus, he thought becoming a priest would help fight it.
That
very year, he enrolled in Major Seminary in Bukavu, but during the
holiday early October 1990, police officers from Karama commune where Cyanika
belongs came to check his home, saying that they had got evidences that they
were accomplices of Rwanda Patriotic Army(RPA) Inkotanyi.
Inkotanyi,
largely Rwandan refugees who had fled persecution in Rwanda since 1959,
attacked Rwanda since October 1, 1990 from neighboring Uganda, seeking to
reclaim the right to their motherland.
“The
police officers stole Rwf 20,000 from us saying it is the money we wanted to
send to RPA,” Bizimana said.
Bizimana
returned to school, but coming back the following year, the chaos, he said, had
increased.
He
had to pursue his education in Suisse and then Burkina Faso preparing entry
into the congregation of White Fathers-Les Pères Blancs, but he kept in touch
with family.
“During
Christmas holidays in 1993, things had worsened with grenades throwing here and
there, attacks of Tutsi families,…I hurried to return to Burkina Faso but
continued to get news from father Joseph Niyomugabo of Cyanika and my cousin
Aloys Katabarwa, then driver of Prefet Bucyibaruta,” he said.
Bucyibaruta
and the Genocide against Tutsi
After
showing the context of his birthplace before the Genocide, Bizimana explained
the story of Bucyibaruta’s transfer from Kibungo prefecture to Gikongoro in
1992.
He
claimed that opposition parties of the time, including Social Democratic
Party(PSD) whose president from the area, and Democratic Party’s Movement(MDR)
had gained supremacy in detriment of the ruling party – National Mouvement for
Democracy and Development(MRND).
“They
needed someone who would restore good relation of the party and the people who
despised prefet Joseph Habiyambere from Gisenyi. Bucyibaruta was the best bet
because he was ready to do what MRND wanted,” Bizimana said while Bucyibaruta
responded that it was just an appointment and had nothing to do with preparing
the Genocide.
To
support this assertion, Bizimana said that Bucyibaruta, while in Kibungo, took
many Tutsi to jail calling them RPA accomplices-ibyitso- and on top of that,
under his rule, some Tutsi were killed. He shared names.
Between
April 7-14,1994, Bizimana who was in Burkina Faso tried to talk to Father
Joseph Niyomugabo of Cyanika on phone to get news about the situation in
Rwanda.
He
would also talk to the wife of Aloys Katabarwa. The later, a Tutsi, was a
driver of Bucyibaruta.
On
April 8,1994, Bizimana learnt from them, that Tutsi had started to gather at
Cyanika parish, and they included his parents while on the other side,
Interahamwe militia were looting and torching their houses.
They
were working on order of sous prefet Ndengeyintwari of Karaba who convened a
meeting to incite the hutu extremists to killing the Tutsi.
He
was in the company of Captain Sebuhura, the assistant commander of Gendermerie
in Gikongoro.
This
name of Sebuhura is recurrent in all testimonies of prosecution and civil
parties. They claim that, Sebuhura was part of the killing machine. It is
alleged that his boss, Major Bizimungu had delegated him for work in those
days, because he was sick. For the first time, Bizimana’s testimony explained
what was wrong with Bizimungu; he had HIV/AIDS, “at later stage,” he said to
the surprise of everyone in Paris court.
Bucyibaruta
received this testimony with bad taste because he always wants to dissociate
himself with Sebuhura. He always seeks to convince the court that he worked
with Major Bizimungu, not his deputy.
On
April 10, Bizimana understood something about Bucyibaruta.
“When
I talked to Father Niyomugabo, he told me that he called Bucyibaruta to
tell him about the prevailing situation and bad living conditions of the Tutsi
who were gathered at Cyanika Parish. He told me that he couldn’t offer any help
because he was just concerned with the death of President Habyarimana.
Nshinshikajwe n’iby’urupfu rwa Habyarimana ntacyo nakumarira. Irwaneho (find
your way out),” he said.
On
that very day, Bucyibaruta would have made a stopover at Cyanika Parish where
he repeated the same hopeless message to Father Niyomugabo.
He
was on his way to Karaba sous prefecture, five minutes’ drive down the road,
and, Bizimana learnt from a direct witness, that Bucyibaruta chaired a meeting
with officials of the area.
He
might have told them that tutsi had to be concentrated on one place and that
they should mount roadblocks that would arrest and kill any Tutsi. In that
meeting, it was also decided that the Tutsi shouldn’t get any food supply, and
to make the matter worse, they cut water pipes.
April
10, 1994 was probably the last time Bizimana was able to talk to his family
during the Genocide because when he called on April 14, telephone network in
the country was cut.
He
talked to his mother who told him that the situation was bad and there were
quite little chances to survive the massacre.
Bucyibaruta
and his Tutsi driver
Before
the Genocide, Katabarwa who happened to be the cousin to Bizimana, was the
driver of Prefet Bucyibaruta and when the Genocide started. He continued
serving.
On
April 7, 1994, according to Bizimana, Katabarwa drove the wife of his boss to
Kiziguro in Eastern Province, currently Gatsibo district. Previous witnesses
said that the wife of Bucyibaruta was attending a funeral.
The
following day, on their way back to Gikongoro, they were arrested at the level
of Rwamagana, but the gendarmerie helped, and gave them body guards to escort
them up to Gikongoro where they arrived safely.
Several
defence witnesses base their argument to this event to show that Bucyibaruta
himself was threatened and feared for the life of his wife, a Tutsi.
However,
this might not necessarily clear the suspect. Once in Gikongoro, Katabarwa
remained at Bucyibaruta’s and he was given a room in the house of the boss to
stay there. The suspect agrees with Bizimana on this, the only disagreement
comes in relation to the position of the room.
“The
time he was in this house, Katabarwa would hear Bucyibaruta and his guests who
mainly included captain Sebuhura and sometime Col Simba Aloys discuss issues of
Tutsi,” he said.
“One
day, they said that the Tutsi had to be gathered at Murambi, and they discussed
a list of Tutsi that were killed and those remaining. Katabarwa was also on the
‘wanted’list.”
With
this, he said, Katabarwa escaped and went to hide from A Hutu friend and
secretary returned to his home by April 23rd. His wife, a Hutu had
convinced Interahamwe that he had died. She kept the secret and reported to
French contingents under operation Turquoise who came, rescued him and handed
him to Inkotanyi.
Katabarwa
died from a sickness in 1996 after he had told Bizimana the whole story in
1995.
However,
Bucyibaruta does not agree that his driver ever heard what he was discussing
with guests, because, “his room was really at distance from the living room.”
He
said:” I never attempted to kill Katabarwa, I never discussed the list of Tutsi
to be killed,” he said.
Bucyibaruta
further refuted the allegation that Katabarwa escaped from his home, but said:
“I told him to find a different hideout because killers had started suspecting
that he was at my home.”
Bucyibaruta
said, that Katabarwa “was escorted by my son. I was watching, keeping my dog
for the fear that it could bark and alert killers.”
In
previous hearing, reporters say to have seen Bucyibaruta dozing, but the
testimony of Bizimana which included clear and precise venues, events and
time, made everyone awake.
Bizimana’s
tribute to his lost family
With
what he saw while returning to Rwanda in 1995 and all that he learnt around the
Genocide, Bizimana said he decided to change his mind and forgot about becoming
a priest. He resigned in 1996 and his plea to quit was accepted.
“Because
I was disappointed with the behavior of several priests during the Genocide,”
he said.
He
re-started a new education path with the school of law in France and obtained a
PhD degree in 2004. He returned to the country to serve in different
capacities.
The
defence tried with all means to understand whether Bizimana’s interest to do
research around the Genocide is in any way linked to his position in the
cabinet and his job related to fight against the Genocide.
But
he first showed them that the loss of his 84 family members was the first thing
that compelled him to do research “to understand how they were killed and who
was behind the killings.”
He
said he started this research before he even got any position, when he was at
school, struggling to raise his tuition fees.
He
wrote his first book l’Eglise et le Genocide, the church and the Genocide, 2001
which he dedicated to the 84 family members victims of the tragedy.
Source:
www.ktpress.rw