Trial translated news

Hearing of Mr. André GUICHAOUA, background witness.

Examination of Mr SIMBIKANGWA Hearing of three medical experts

Court ruling on the invalidity request. Examination on SIMBIKANGWAs CV. Hearing of Mrs Julie LANDRY, personality investigator. Resumption of personality enquiry. Hearing of Bonaventure MUTANGANA, “brother” of SIMBIKANGWA.

The appeal trial of Pascal SIMBIKANGWA opened this morning at then Assizes Court of Bobigny. The media has spread the word : no one is there, almost. It is true that “the Tutsi genocide does not interest anyone”. The morning began with a brief examination of the identity of the accused. Then the President of the Court, Mr. Régis De JORNA, conducted a draw for 9 holder jurors and 5 alternate jurors who were then sworn in. The morning ended with the mention of the associations bringing the civil suits : the CPCR, FIDH, LDH, SURVIE and LICRA. A good …

Mr President, Gentlemen Councillors, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, It is with pride, but mostly humility that I stand before you in support of the interest of the Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda and the fifteen civilian individuals that we represent with my colleague Michel Laval. As we arrive almost at the end of this trial with, for me, a lot of emotion, I must admit that these two months of hearings were also for me, as for you I imagine, deeply upsetting… Upsetting as a lawyer of course, as a citizen, but also as a woman …

Please switch to the french part of this site to read the court reports about the trial. (drawing by Annabelle GIUDICE)

Mr Eliezer NGENDAHIMANA’s hearing (farmer). The witness reports about the “security meeting” which took part on April 13th, 1994, on the Cyinzovu football field and led by Mr Tito BARAHIRA . Locals were supposedly invited to this meeting with a letter that one of them received, Samuel NSENGIYUMVA. The aim was to discuss about the situation for each cell. Reproaches were made to the Rugazy’s people for not taking care of their own cell’s security. They were also asked to help Nyabisenga’s people but they refused. Instruction was “not to kill Tutsi women who were married to Hutu, because those …