Gov’t to cooperate on Uwinkindi

The National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) has promised the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR) that the government will co-operate fully with its monitoring team during the trial of Genocide suspect, Jean Uwinkindi, if he is transferred to Rwanda.The pledge comes in the wake of the Tribunal’s Appeals Chamber’s decision, in two separate rulings, to put on hold the transfer of Uwinkindi to Rwanda until it is satisfied that he will receive a free and fair trial.In a meeting with ICTR officials, the government promised to cooperate with the team that will monitor the conduct of the trial. Speaking to The New Times, the Authority’s Spokesman, Bernard Alain Mukurarinda, said a team of ICTR officials led by tribunal’s Rolland Amoussouga, is in Kigali on a fact finding mission on Uwinkindi’s pending transfer. “The Government has no problem with the team monitoring Uwinkindi’s case; they will be given all they need to carry out their duties while here and other requirements that they seek,” said Mukurarinda.The team is expected to hand in the report to the ICTR’s Appeal Chamber not later than March 16.If the Chamber is satisfied that Uwinkindi will receive a free and free trial, he will be handed over to the Rwandan government. The government had expressed disappointment over the delays by the court to transfer the suspect over outstanding monitoring and logistical issues.Uwinkindi, a former clergyman, was born in 1961 in the former Kivumu commune, Kibuye prefecture, is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and extermination, according to the indictment by the ICTR. He was closely linked to the extremist wing of the MRND party; Uwinkindi is alleged to have sought the assistance of gendarmes and the ex-FAR to exterminate the local Tutsi population in Bugesera where he headed a Pentecostal Church. He later fled Rwanda in July 1994, after 2,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi were discovered near his church.