Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution. The son of Kenya’s founding president. Lost 2002 elections to Mwai Kibaki but backed him in 2007. Like President Kibaki, a member of Kenya’s Kikuyu community – the country’s largest.

Accused of developing a plan to take revenge for attacks on Kikuyus and keep Kibaki in power. Kenyatta was allegedly the focal point between the government and the Kikuyu Mungiki sect, which was sent to the Rift Valley, setting up road blocks and going house-to-house, killing some 150 suspected Odinga supporters.

Cabinet secretary Francis Mutaura is a right-hand man of President Mwai Kibaki and seen as one of the most powerful unelected figures in the country. A former Kenyan ambassador at the United Nations and the European Union. From the Meru community, which is closely linked to President Kibaki’s Kikuyu group.

Accused of developing a plan with Kenyatta and Ali to take revenge for attacks on Kikuyus and keep Kibaki in power. Muthaura allegedly met Mungiki leaders and ordered the police to let Mungiki members through road blocks while using excessive force against supporters of Raila Odinga.

Former Education Minister William Ruto is one of the most influential people in the Rift Valley, where the worst violence took place. Suspended as minister in October after being accused of corruption over land deal, he flew to The Hague in November to try to clear his name.

William Ruto is accused of planning even before the election to set up militias to attack supporters of President Kibaki. Alleged to have urged his supporters to uproot the weeds from the fields – referring to communities in the Rift Valley with origins elsewhere in the country.

Reporter and executive of Kass FM radio, Joshua arap Sang Hosted morning shows on a Kalenjin-language radio station during the post-election violence in 2007/2008.

Joshua arap Sang is accused of planning attacks, along with Kosgey and Ruto, as well as whipping up ethnic hatred on the airwaves. Worst atrocity was the burning of a church near Eldoret where ethnic Kikuyus were sheltering.

On this site you will find videos relating to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi enriched with synchronized transcripts, searchable index terms, and maps. Videos include testimonies of Genocide survivors and perpetrators, Gacaca Justice System court proceedings, and remembrance ceremonies.

Digitized photos, publications, archival documents, and audio recordings relevant to the Rwandan Genocide are also available on this site.

Witnesses say government soldiers killed 21 people in the village of Sokumba, in the Ndele area, about 70km (44 miles) from the border with Chad. Some 18,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad to escape the conflict, says the UN refugee agency. The Central African Republic (CAR) army declined to respond to the allegations.

Other human rights abuses committed by both the national military and rebels have been reported in the area. Four months after a peace deal was signed by various insurgent groups, the country is facing renewed fighting in the north.

Blood-stained clothes

In Sokumba, a group of women were preparing for a funeral ceremony when soldiers – believed to be part of the elite presidential guard – arrived in the village and told all the men to gather under a mango tree.

The men were stripped naked and tied to mango trees before several were shot in the head, some were stabbed to death and one person was decapitated Eyewitness reports Massacre haunts CAR villagers Profile: Central African Republic

The BBC’s Thomas Fessy interviewed witnesses who say soldiers accused them of supporting the rebels and killed the men after first shooting the chief of the village.

Diplomatic sources say empty shell cases and blood-stained clothes were found at the scene a week after the killing.

Between seven and nine other people are reported to have been killed by government soldiers in nearby villages.

The BBC’s Celeste Hicks on Chad’s border with CAR says about 250 families have just arrived.

She says people are coming day after day with whatever they have been able to carry – some cooking pots, utensils and their children – after weeks fleeing through the bush.

Refugees told her that the killings in Sokumba had aimed to suppress a little-known rebel movement, the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP).

The eyewitnesses said the men were stripped naked and tied to mango trees before several were shot in the head, some were stabbed with knives in the stomach until they died and one person was decapitated after he was killed. According to the unverified testimony, the troops’ commander checked all were dead by shooting them again, before leaving the bodies in the street.

The head of the UN human rights section in Bangui, the capital of the CAR, Renner Onana, says abuses have been committed by both the army and the rebels in the area. CAR army chief-of-staff Gen Francois Mobebou refused to comment.

Sporadic fighting broke out in January between government troops and the CPJP. Little is known about the rebel group’s aims or organisation.

I’ve visited Nairobi several times since June and each visit I’ve been startled by the large number of killings publicly confirmed by the police. Some days the police admit to killing as many as five to ten people — all likely robbers and violent criminals, according to the cops.

Whenever I complain about the amount of killings by police, Kenyans tell me that the police actions are welcome — and that there are simply too many crimes in Nairobi and too many armed criminals.

The police also have taken to killing suspects rather than arresting them — partly as a form of protest against a judicial system that moves too slowly against criminals and too often offers them leniency. Prosecutors, meanwhile, routinely fall down on the job, failing to document their cases sufficiently.

The judicial failures, while real, are used as an excuse for police to kill people with impunity. The practice of police killings legitimizes violence in Kenya, by ordinary criminals and political actors alike as well as by the state itself.
That so many of the people killed by police are alleged to be carrying weapons has made me wonder whether the police routinely plant guns on those they kill in order to protect themselves from complaints and obtain at least a flimsy justication for their deadly actions.

My worst suspicions about extra-judicial killings by police have been confirmed by a United Nations investigator. Philip Alston has found that senior police officials are ordering killings by their officers. Alston told the BBC: “Kenyan police are a law unto themselves. They kill often, with impunity.”

Alston provided evidence showing that police officers are given a “bonus” of $65 for every “suspect” they kill. He called on Kenya’s government to fire its police chief.

http://www.gogo.to/hkbhb7

It is not yet known how many Christians were in the church at the time, according to Radio Okapi. In an indescribably savage manner, the rebels then attacked several homesteads, axing, cutting, slitting throats and crushing skulls with wooden bats and axes. The massacre occurred in the town of Tora and Libombi and two nearby mining communities located 130km from Dungu, the military base of operation lightning thunder.

According to the president of the civil society of Dungu, Felicien Balani: “The LRA entered around midnight. They surprised the faithful of the church who were in a prayer vigil. They burned them in the church,” said Balani. The rebels also burnt several houses at the gold mine town of Tora. So far recorded are five deaths and six injured. Civil society organizations working in Dungu said over 100 people had fled the area by yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch said so far 600 people have been killed by the rebels led by Joseph Kony since December 14, 2008. “In Doruma, it was really awful. They had killed at least 300 people. We were in a village where there are only six survivors, all the others were killed,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, who coordinates the investigations on behalf of Human Rights Watch.

“One of the few survivors, a 72-year-old man who arrived late for Christmas lunch, hid in the bushes and watched in horror as his wife, children and grandchildren were killed,” Woudenberg said.

After the massacre, the rebels “ate the Christmas feast the villagers had prepared, and then slept among the dead bodies before continuing on their trail of destruction and death” through another 12 villages.

Among the latest incidents, 86 people were massacred in Sambia, Akua and Tomate towns between January 8 and 11.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/668519

Strongly Protested by the Rwandan Government

Rwanda minister of information Louise Mushikiwabo, at a press conference, said the Rwandan government had through a diplomatic protest note served onto the Germany embassy in Kigali, objected to the arrest of Ms Kabuye, accusing the German government of bias, having failed to extradite two Hutu extremist elements, to face trial before the Rwanda genocide tribunal.

Judge Bruguière in November 2006 stirred controversy with his call for the prosecution of President Paul Kagame for actions alleged to have triggered the 1994 genocide.
Judge Bruguière said, Mr Kagame, whose Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front took control of the country after the 100-day genocide that saw the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, should stand trial at the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, ICTR.
Bruguière wants Kagame charged with bringing down the plane of former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana with ground-to-air missiles on April 6, 1994. Three French crew member died with Habyarimana aboard his Falcon jet, together with the then president of neighboring Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamire.

Judge Bruguière was unable to indict Mr Kagame because under French law sitting heads of state enjoy immunity from prosecution but the French judge also issued arrest warrants for nine of Kagama’s top aides, including Ms Kabuye.
The others are James Kabarebe, the head of the military, Charles Kayonga, army chief of staff; Faustin Jyamwasa-Kayumba, ambassador to India; Jackson Nkurunziza, of presidential guard; Samuel Kanjyamera, an RPF parliamentary deputy; Jacob Tumwime, an army officer; Franck Nziza, a Presidential Guard officer and Eric Hakizimana, an intelligence officer.

Sudan’s recent legal actions against a militia commander and others accused of war crimes in Darfur hold little promise of bringing justice to victims of serious abuses, claims Human Rights Watch which accused the Sudanese government of trying to undermine investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The Sudanese government is putting up more window dressing as part of its ongoing effort to block the investigations of the International Criminal Court,” said Georgette Gagnon. “No one should be fooled by these moves.”

Since the ICC prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir on July 14, 2008 for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, Sudan has made the appearance of holding alleged perpetrators accountable for serious crimes in Darfur.

The ICC statute allows the court to proceed in a case only if relevant national courts are “unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution.” ICC judges have interpreted this to mean that national courts must charge the same person with the same crimes as those brought before the ICC.

In August 2008, Sudan’s justice minister, Abdelbasit Sabdarat, appointed a special prosecutor and legal advisers in each of Darfur’s three states to investigate crimes that occurred from 2003 onward. In October, Sudanese justice officials announced that the new special prosecutor had completed an investigation into allegations against Ali Kosheib, a militia commander who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Sudanese authorities have not publicly specified which charges they are investigating, but a justice official said that the investigation relates to “killing and looting” by Kosheib and two others. Kosheib was previously in custody in Sudan but was released for lack of evidence.

“Even if the government were serious about prosecuting Kosheib, limitations in Sudanese law mean that he could not be tried for the full range of crimes, including crimes against humanity, that have been committed in Darfur,” said Gagnon.

Sudanese criminal laws do not include international crimes such as crimes against humanity and genocide. The country’s criminal procedure code does not recognize the principle of command responsibility, which is necessary for prosecuting military officers for their failure to take action against subordinates who commit unlawful acts. Broad legislative immunity provisions in Sudanese law block efforts to prosecute members of the armed forces, including militia members, national security forces and the police. Significant obstacles also prevent prosecutions in Sudan for rape and other sexual violence crimes that continue to be widespread in Darfur. Cumbersome reporting procedures, social stigma and the threat of facing adultery charges dissuade female victims of sexual violence from coming forward.

Sudan is apparently considering revisions to the criminal code to include international criminal law provisions, but these are not believed to include provisions that would address command responsibility, remove existing immunities, or address obstacles to prosecuting rape and sexual violence.

“The Sudanese government has repeatedly said its courts can prosecute those responsible for crimes in Darfur, but so far we have only seen ordinary criminal cases such as livestock theft,” said Gagnon. “We’ve yet to see anyone held responsible for conflict-related crimes.”

In 2005, after the ICC prosecutor announced the opening of his investigations, Sudan established Special Criminal Courts for Events in Darfur for the same purpose. But, as documented in the Human Rights Watch report, “Lack of Conviction”, authorities brought only 13 cases before these courts, all involving low-ranking individuals accused of minor offenses such as theft. In the sole case relating to a large-scale attack on civilians, the court convicted the accused of theft that occurred after the attack.

What do you do if two of your countrymen — including one high-ranking minister — have been indicted for war crimes by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court? Well, if you are the Sudanese Ambassador to the UN, you indict the Chief Prosecutor right back.

In a gesture that cannot help but be compared to the childhood retort of “I know you are, but what am I?” Abdel-Mahmood Mohamad has called for Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the man leading the nearly yearlong crusade to bring some of the perpetrators of the Darfur genocide to justice, to “be tried in court,” branding him “politically bankrupt” and “enemy number one of peace in Darfur.”

The absurd contention that Moreno-Ocampo is obstructing peace in Darfur naturally turns the problem exactly on its head. Mohamed, perhaps taking a page out of Joseph Kony’s book, is appealing to the (misplaced) notion that, if the ICC prosecutions in Sudan were dropped, the Sudanese government would offer greater compliance. Mohamed’s bluster is simply the latest — and probably bluntest — example of Sudan’s hard-headed obstruction of the ICC’s work in Darfur.

Darfur is not Northern Uganda, where an actual peace accord will, it seems, finally be signed in the next couple of days. The ICC’s work in Darfur, then, must now be used as a stick to enforce compliance — as well as, of course, to ensure justice and accountability. With such outright defiance of the UN, Sudan’s leaders cannot simply claim, at this stage in the conflict, that the pursuit of justice is in any way undermining their none-too-credible support for peace.

Rwanda’s government is to reveal details of a report containing allegations of French involvement in the country’s 1994 genocide.

The report is expected to contain the names of those alleged to be implicated and the accusations against them.

Some 800,000 people were killed in just 100 days in the 1994 massacre.

Earlier this year France’s foreign minister denied French responsibility in connection with the genocide, but said political errors had been made.

Testimonies

The BBC’s Geoffrey Mutagoma in the capital, Kigali, says a commission set up by the government took nearly two years investigating France’s alleged role in the genocide.

It heard testimonies from genocide survivors, researchers, writers and reporters.

The 500-page document was presented to the government last November, but has not yet been made public.

Last week, President Paul Kagame told a press conference in Kigali that Rwanda had strong evidence implicating France’s role.

In the past his government has repeatedly accused France of arming and training the Hutu extremists who perpetrated the genocide, and of dragging its feet in co-operating with the investigations that followed the massacres.

The two countries have had a frosty relationship since 2006 when a French judge implicated President Paul Kagame in the downing in 1994 of then-President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane, which triggered the killings.

President Kagame has always denied the charges and says Mr Habyarimana, a Hutu, was killed by Hutu extremists who blamed the incident on his Tutsi rebels to provide the pretext for the genocide.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu extremists in the genocide.

It said the US embassy in Kinshasa will in the next few weeks work with the UN mission and others in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to distribute posters, matchbooks and other items to solicit information.

“Because many of the fugitives are believed to be living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this rewards for justice program will be focused there,” said Clint Williamson, ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues.

He said up to five million dollars will be given to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of any of the 13 men indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), who remain fugitives.

They were charged with perpetrating, financing and providing support for the 1994 genocide in which up to one million people were killed.

The program dating back to the late 1990s lapsed in the last year and a half as information dried up, but the State Department revived it as “there is some urgency in trying to resolve the issue of the fugitives,” Williamson said.

“The impunity of these men 14 years after the crimes were committed and their continuing their presence in the region represents a threat to stability and reconciliation,” Williamson told reporters.

One of the accused, Felicien Kabuga, is believed to be in Kenya, though “he has links to people in the Congo,” Williamson said. “We’re open to expanding this program again in Kenya if we think it’s useful.”

The others on the list are Augustin Bizimana, Idelphonse Nizeyimana, Protais Mpiranya, Gregoire Ndahimana, Fulgence Kayishema, Bernard Munyagishari, Pheneas Munyarugarama, Aloys Ndimbati, Ladislas Ntaganzwa, Charles Ryandikayo, Charles Sikubwabo, and Jean Bosco Uwinkindi.

Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary for African affairs, said no money has been awarded to anyone in the past because governments rather than individuals gave tips that led to the arrests of at least three accused of war crimes.

The genocide in Rwanda ended when the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) routed the FAR (the French acronym for the Armed Forces of Rwanda) in July of that year.