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Disappearance of witness: ICTR orders probe into false testimony
2008-05-17 09:29:34
By Sukhdev Chhatbar
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has ordered its registrar to appoint an independent amicus curiae (friend of the court) to investigate the alleged false testimony of a protected witness, known only by the code name BTH, who, however, has mysteriously vanished from a safe house in Arusha since last Tuesday.
Granting the prosecutor`s motion, presiding Judge Dennis Byron ordered the registrar to report back to the chamber and advise on the instigation of proceedings for false testimony in the trial of three former top party officials accused of 1994 Rwanda genocide and crimes against humanity. He did not set any time limit.
The chamber has also ordered to lift the confidential status of the matter and refile as the documents would not disclose identity of the protected witness.
The other two judges in the chamber`s unanimous decision were Gberdao Kam and Vagn Joensen.
BTH testified as a prosecution witness in June 2006 and was recalled in April, 2008.
His April testimony contradicted his prior testimony on a number of issues, including alleged involvement of former National Republican Movement for Democracy (MRND) Secretary General Joseph Nzirorera in the events in the Mukingo commune, where thousands of ethnic Tutsi refugees were killed during the April-July 1994 mass slaughter.
The witness also raised a number of allegations with regard to the testimony of other prosecution witnesses, claiming that he and others had given false evidence as a result of pressure which had been brought to bear on them by the Rwandan government.
The other accused in the joint trial are MRND President Mathieu Ngirumpatse and Vice-President Edouard Karemera. All three have pleaded not guilty.
BTH has testified in several other trials, including in the ongoing joint trial of four former Rwandan ministers, known as `Government II’, under the code name `GFA`.
The ministers are Casimir Bizimungu (Health), Prosper Mugiraneza (Civil Service), Justin Mugenzi (Commerce) and Jerome Bicamumpaka (Foreign Affairs). All have pleaded not guilty.
The witness disappeared, just some few hours before his appearance in the court to re-testify to confess to false testimony in the Government II Trial. The Tanzanian police and ICTR security have since launched a manhunt for GFA.
One of the defendants in the trial, Mugenzi, has filed a motion seeking the judges in Chamber III presided over by Khalida Khan to authorise Tanzanian authorities to arrest the witness under his real name and surrender him to the tribunal so that he can be brought before the trial chamber.
Alternatively, Mugenzi, through his lead Counsel Benjamin Gumpert, has asked the Chamber to charge the witness for contempt of court.
The Chamber has yet to make a decision on the application dated 14 May.
Recently, GFA contacted Bicamumpaka`s defence team and admitted that he had lied in his statement so as to get released from prison in Rwanda, where he was facing 1994 genocide charges The Chamber had authorized the defence team to meet GFA in the presence of a member of the prosecution team in a meeting which took place in Kampala, Uganda.
On his arrival in Arusha for his re-testimony, GFA was warned by the chamber of the legal risks he faces of false testimony.
He then asked to postpone his testimony and requested a new meeting with the Registry for legal counselling.
The meeting took place and his testimony was scheduled anew for last Tuesday.
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