Rwanda genocide trial begins for two former mayors in French court

Two former mayors suspected of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, had their first day in court on Tuesday as French prosecutors began laying out arguments linking them to a slaughter that left 800,000 dead. The prosecutors said that the men faced trial in France because they were apprehended in that country. Tite Barahira, 64 […]

Two former mayors suspected of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, had their first day in court on Tuesday as French prosecutors began laying out arguments linking them to a slaughter that left 800,000 dead.

The prosecutors said that the men faced trial in France because they were apprehended in that country.

Tite Barahira, 64 and Octavien Ngenzi, 54, are suspected of having taken part in the mass slaughter that left an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead during the course of 100 days in 1994.

It said that the bloodbath ended when Tutsi rebels led by Paul Kagame, now Rwanda’s president, seized control.

“Ngenzi was mayor of the Kabarondo Commune, a district in eastern Rwanda, in 1994.

“Barahira, who held the office from 1997 to 1986, was a local politician,’’ it noted.

It said that they were suspected of having participated in the massacre of people seeking refuge in a Catholic church.

According to court documents, Barahira alleged to have directed the local Interahamwe militia and provided weapons and instructions.

Barahira was detained in Toulouse in 2013 and Ngenzi in Mayotte in 2010; their 38-day trial is the second Rwanda genocide-related process in France.

Meanwhile approximately 90 witnesses were expected to testify.

The men were charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, if convicted, they could face life sentences.

In 2014, a French court convicted former Rwandan intelligence chief Pascal Simbikangwa of genocide and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, nearly 30 cases related to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda are pending in front of French courts.

Report says the case is of special interest as many Africa watchers are worried about a repeat of Hutu on Tutsi violence in Burundi, a country that share border with Rwanda. (dpa/NAN)