Arusha, January 10th, 2005(FH) -A prosecution witness in the trial involving four former Rwandan army officials on genocide charges before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda(ICTR) on Monday claimed that she fled to the house of the former chief of staff of the Gendarmerie (Para-military police), General Augustin Ndindiliyimana after being told he ordered the death of her husband.

The fourth prosecution witness code-named GFT is a Hutu woman who was married to a Tutsi during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

She told the court that one time when massacres begun between the 20th to the 21st of April, in Nyaruhengeri region, Northern Rwanda, herself together with her husband took refuge in one Augustin Hakiyayezu’s house.

On May 5th, the prosecution witness claimed, “Hakiyayezu told us, ‘you better find somewhere else because Ndindiliyimana asked us to find you and kill you’”.

Later, GFT testified that she witnessed her Tutsi husband being killed by five men led by one Jean Pierre Kajugu who had deserted the army, while she fled. The fourth prosecution witness then informed the court that she went to take refuge in Ndindiliyimana’s house, “to see if he could help me to hide”.

During her testimony the witness also claimed that she heard that ”three gendarmes from Ndindiliyimana’s house shot, killed and looted one Gashugi while burning several house in that region”

Soon after her testimony the lead defense counsel for Ndindiliyimana, Christopher Black(Canada)started cross-examining GFT. He queried how she could have taken refuge at Ndindiliyimana’s house whereas he ordered the killing of her husband.

In response the witness claimed, “Yes, I was aware of that but I wasn’t convinced because those events were reported to me by someone else”.

She further narrated that she could not return to her parents home because several of her close relatives had been killed and her marital family had shared good relations with Ndindiliyimana’s. The witness informed the court that her perception has however changed now after she was told by her neighbors that “Ndindiliyimana played a role in the death of her husband”.

The defense counsel continued to outline several inconsistencies between the witness’s testimony and written statements. One time defense counsel Black argued that the witness’s testimony was filled with hearsay which was not given to her by people who directly witnessed the events.

This issue regarding hearsay led to a heated debate between the defense and the prosecution led by Cire Ali Ba (Senegal). Presiding Judge Joseph Asoka de Silva of Sri Lanka announced that, “hearsay is admissible at the tribunal subject to relevance”. He allowed the witness to testify on grounds that the judges will evaluate the relevance of the hearsay later.

In this so-called Military II trial, General Ndindiliyimana is co-accused with the former commander of the Reconnaissance battalion, Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, his deputy, Captain Innocent Sagahutu and the former army chief-of-staff of the Rwandan army General Augustin Bizimungu.

The military officials are accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes of which they have pleaded not guilty.

The trial resumed after a three month adjournment to allow the defense counsel for Bizimungu to become acquainted with the trial. It started on September 20, 2004.

GFT’s cross-examination continues before Trial Chamber Two of the ICTR composed of Judge Joseph Asoka de Silva of Sri Lanka(Presiding), assisted by Judges Taghrid Hikmet of Jordan and Seon Ki Park of South Korea.

SV/GF/FH (MLII’''0110e)