Reuters AlertNet Lite - PREVIEW-Belgium seeks justice in Rwanda peacekeeper murders

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PREVIEW-Belgium seeks justice in Rwanda peacekeeper murders

18 Apr 2007 09:14:11 GMT
Source: Reuters

BRUSSELS, April 18 (Reuters) - Belgium will put on trial on Thursday the former Rwandan army major it holds responsible for the 1994 murder of 10 Belgian peacekeepers and the Rwandan prime minister they were seeking to protect.

Bernard Ntuyahaga, born in 1952, faces 16 counts of murder and three of attempted murder in the early days of the Rwandan genocide following the shooting down of the president's plane on April 6, 1994.

Belgium has been seeking justice for its murdered troops for 13 years. Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda dropped genocide and war crimes charges against Ntuyahaga in 1999.

After a prolonged extradition attempt, Ntuyahaga flew to Belgium voluntarily in 2004.

The former major is accused of ferrying the peacekeepers from the prime minister's residence and handing them over to fellow soldiers in a military camp in Kigali, where they were beaten to death, shot or slain with machetes.

Rumours were circulating at the time that the Belgians were responsible for the president's assassination, according to Belgian prosecutors' indictment.

Ntuyaha also stands accused of the murder of Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana who the Belgians had been trying to protect and to escort to give a radio broadcast to the nation.

Ntuyahaga argues that he came by the residence by chance and that he had given a ride to the Belgians at their request.

The trial is due to last at least until June, with 157 witnesses scheduled, including the assassinated prime minister's children. Relatives of murdered soldiers could also be in court.

It is not the first time Rwandans have stood trial in Belgium over the 1994 genocide. Two Catholic nuns, a university professor and a businessman were sentenced in 2001 to between 12 and 20 years for aiding the mass murders.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in 100 days by the Hutu-led government and ethnic militias.

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Last updated:Wed Apr 18 09:14:39 2007