Rwandan on trial over Belgian peacekeeper killings
19 Apr 2007 14:48:43 GMT Source: Reuters
By Julien Ponthus BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) - Former Rwandan army major Bernard Ntuyahaga went on trial in Brussels on Thursday, charged with the murder of 10 Belgian peacekeepers and the Rwandan prime minister in 1994, in the early days of the Rwandan genocide. Ntuyahaga, wearing a green shirt and dark jacket, addressed the court only to give his name, country, year of birth -- 1952 -- and current residence, a Brussels prison. He is set to take the stand on Monday. He is accused of taking 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. The Belgians were killed a day after the Rwandan president's plane was shot down on April 6, 1994, triggering the genocide in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by the Hutu-led government and ethnic militias. Ntuyahaga is also accused of the murder of Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, whom the Belgians were trying to protect and escort to a radio station for a broadcast to the nation. He faces a total 16 counts of murder and three of attempted murder. Ntuyahaga encouraged rumours circulating at the time that the Belgians were responsible for the president's assassination, according to the Belgian prosecutors' indictment. The ex-major says he was passing the residence by chance and gave the Belgians a ride at their request, his lawyer has said. TRYING TO GET JUSTICE Belgium has been trying to get 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 lengthy attempts to extradite him, he flew to Belgium voluntarily in 2004. The trial is due to last at least until June, and the 157 witnesses due to appear include the assassinated prime minister's children. Relatives of the peacekeepers attending the trial said they hoped it would shed light on the soldiers' deaths. "I wish for one thing, that is to know the reasons for the massacre, the why, the how. That's what interests me," Pierre Leroy, brother of Yannick, one of the murdered soldiers, told reporters on the sidelines of the trial. "He (Ntuyahaga) is the one holding the key to the whole affair. He knows who ordered the murder of the paratroopers. He was there when they were taken prisoner," Jean-Michel Meaux, brother of peacekeeper Bruno, told Reuters Television. "There are questions without answers, blurred areas," said Joseph Plescia, who lost his brother Louis. 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' jail for aiding the mass murders. Human Rights Watch welcomed the opening of the trial but said it regretted the fact that many crimes perpetrated then had gone unpunished."Many Rwandans accused of participation in the genocide still live undisturbed in European countries," it said.
