Simbikangwa trial for next month in Paris

The trial of Genocide suspect Pascal Simbikangwa is scheduled to commence in substance on February 4 in the French capital Paris, according to media reports. This will be the first Genocide trial to be conducted in France 20 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.The trial of Genocide suspect Pascal Simbikangwa is scheduled to commence on February 4, in the French capital Paris, according to media reports.This will be the first Genocide trial to be conducted in France 20 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Simbikangwa, who headed Rwanda’s intelligence agency in 1994, is alleged to have supplied arms to the Interahamwe militia and ordered the massacre of Tutsis in the former Gisenyi prefecture in the current Rubavu District.Without revealing names and numbers, sources within the Rwanda prosecution told The New Times yesterday that several witnesses would be flown to France to testify in the case.The accused is believed to be one of the members of the ‘Akazu’ an inner group that conceptualised and oversaw the Genocide, which left over a million people brutally killed at the hands of the Interahamwe militia and government forces.Genocide survivors have welcomed the trial, saying it is would constitute milestone that should set the pace to try several other cases.Naftali Ahishakiye, the executive secretary of Ibuka, an umbrella of associations advocating for the interests of survivors of the Genocide against Tutsis, said: “This shows that the coordinated efforts of the government and civil society organisations demanding France to act have paid off.”He, however, added: “This trial comes at a time when we are preparing to mark the 20th anniversary of Genocide. It is time France stopped being a safe haven for war criminals.”Investigations into the role Simbikangwa played in the Genocide started in 2009, one year after he was arrested in Mayotte, a French island.Simbikangwa was arrested following a complaint made by France-based rights group Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR), an association that pursues Genocide suspects living in France.In a previous interview with The New Times, CPCR president Alain Gauthier said he will only believe in true justice after seeing the trial take place.About 20 Genocide-related cases are pending before French courts.Rwanda’s relations with France have been shaky in the last two decades with the former accusing the latter of playing a key role in the Genocide that claimed over a million lives and harbouring the key perpetrators.France also has cases that were referred to them by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) which have never been tried.The two cases involve Catholic Priest Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and Laurent Bucyibaruta, a former local government leader.Other key suspects believed to be still roaming France, include, Callixte Mbarushimana, the executive secretary of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the genocial outfit based in the DRC.Mbarushimana, a former employee of the United Nations in Kigali, is accused of having used UN logistics to facilitate killing of Tutsi colleagues and leading attacks on different suburbs in Kigali.

National

Simbikangwa trial for next month in Paris