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Mahundi testifies for Rwanda genocide accused
2008-03-06 09:56:51
By Hirondelle News Agency, Arusha
Former Tanzanian Inspector General of Police Harun Mahundi has described a one-time chief of staff of Rwanda`s Gendarmerie Nationale, Gen Augustin Ndindiliyimana, as a peace-loving person.
``He was a cool-minded and very polite person who loved seeing tranquility flourish in his country,`` Mahundi told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda here yesterday.
The former IGP was led in his testimony by Ndindiliyimana`s Canadian lead defence counsel, Christopher Black. He said he knew the accused, who is facing charges at the UN court, as a person ``not fond of military confrontations``.
The accused is charged alongside three other former Rwandan senior army officers with the crimes committed during the 1994 genocide.
The others are former chief of staff Gen Augustin Bizimungu, former Reconnaissance Battalion commander Maj Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, and his deputy, Capt Innocent Sagahutu. All four have pleaded not guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Mahundi, Ndindiliyimana’s 29th witness, explained that he had good working relations with the former Rwandan army officer.
That was particularly between September and November 1993, when the accused visited Tanzania to explore the possibility of training Rwandan military personnel in combating riots.
He said the Rwandese government was by then engaged in peace negotiations with Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels then controlling the country`s northern part as the government held the southern portion.
The rebels were British-trained and the gendarmes French trained and Gen Ndindiliyimana had wanted Tanzania to train the gendarmes so that the two forces could smoothly integrate when peace was attained, according to Mahundi.
``He (Ndindiliyimana) pegged his hope on the peace negotiations,`` the former IGP recounted, adding that the training he had asked for was for preparedness purposes in the event of serious riots in the country in the future.
During the reciprocal visit to Rwanda, he said, he (Mahundi) discovered a lot of discrepancies in the gendarmes training - including lack of vehicles for discharging water or gas to disperse crowds during riots.
However, the training programme for gendarmes could not be implemented because Rwanda plunged into genocide sooner after.
Mahundi told the tribunal that Gen Ndindiliyimana wanted an early retirement so that he could devote his time to business, chiefly buying and selling fish from Mwanza in northern Tanzania.
The session has been adjourned, pending the availability of new defence witnesses. Sources hinted that it would resume in May.
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