Gov’t welcomes first Genocide trial in US

A Federal judge in the United States has rejected a defence bid to dismiss charges on wanted Genocide suspect Lazare Kobagaya, ruling that he should stand trial. Attorneys for Kobagaya had sought the dismissal on the grounds that U.S. government payments to “impoverished witnesses” in Rwanda make a fair trial impossible. The US government however argued that the payments to witnesses for their time and expenses were proper. The Government of Rwanda welcomed the decision by the Federal Court, the Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga noting that Kobagaya’s trial should be an opening for similar cases of Genocide suspects that remain at large in the US. “We welcome the beginning of the trial, the first ever on Rwanda Genocide by the United States. Our role will be to facilitate as and when asked to. In the end, we hope this will open the avenue for more trials since in that country, there are a number of other Genocide suspects who also must have their day before Justice,” Ngoga told The Sunday Times. “Kobagaya is not the only one and America’s Law Enforcement Organs are aware of that,” he added. In Kansas where Kobagaya resides, U.S. District Judge Monti Belot this week ruled that payments made to witnesses were reasonable. The Judge ruled that dismissal would not be appropriate even if payments had been “improper” considering the gravity of the charges. Kobagaya will stand trial next week on charges of fraud and unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006 by claiming he lived in Burundi from 1993 to 1995. Federal prosecutors say Kobagaya was in Rwanda in 1994 and participated in the slaughter of hundreds of Tutsis. The 83-year-old Kobagaya is accused of participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, but his trial will mainly focus on naturalization fraud and misuse of an alien registration card. Kobagaya lied on his immigration application and during interviews in 2005 and 2006, according to a federal indictment. He claimed not to have participated in the Genocide and “that he had not persecuted” either directly or indirectly a person of any race, religion, national origin, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. He added that he lived in neighbouring Burundi, not Rwanda, during the slaughter. After gathering 50 witnesses, however, the government says it learned that Kobagaya had committed arson and murder in Rwanda between April 15 and July 18, 1994. Kobagaya “mobilized attackers and coerced them to continue their participation in the killing of Tutsi” according to the indictment. Ends