Since Thursday, November 7, 2019, the Case of Fabien Neretse, a former Rwandan official prosecuted for an alleged role in the genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994, has been opened for hearing, on the merits, before the Cour d’Assises of Brussels.
At the beginning of the trial, the federal magistrate read, for two and a half hours, an indictment in which he accused Fabien Neretse of being one of the founders of the Interahamwe militia and held him responsible for several killings in Kigali, including that of a Belgian Claire Beckers, her husband Isaïe Bucyana and their daughter Katia, all killed on April 9, 1994, upon denunciation by the accused, according to allegations of the prosecution.
The accused was also charged in connection with the massacres committed in Mataba his home village (currently Gakenke District) where he retreated around April 16, 1994.
In Mataba, he is accused of having held a speech in a meeting on the pitch of a primary school, which, according to the statements of the witnesses, incited to kill and was followed by massacres.
After the federal magistrate, followed civil parties, who also charged the accused with a leading role in the massacre of theirs and asked that he be held fully accountable.
The accused pleaded not guilty to all charges. In a 50-page reply, the defense refutes any implication of the accused in the alleged facts and accuses the prosecutor of working on behalf of the RPF.
Neretse rejects the role attributed to him in the creation of the MRND party’s Interahamwe militia, arguing that he had been removed from this political party since the advent of multiparty politics in Rwanda.
He denies any role in the killings in Kigali, Mataba or elsewhere. Rather, he claims that in 1993 he prevented killings of Tutsi in ACEDI school (which he owned), by dismissing the school principal, teachers and students who had persecuted the Tutsi.
Since the opening of the trial two weeks ago, the court has heard the report of the investigating judge followed by the opening statements of the various parties – the prosecution, the civil parties and the defense.
On Tuesday November 12th, the court began to hear the witnesses. Sixteen witnesses have already made their depositions. A total of 120 witnesses are expected and the duration of the trial has been estimated at 6 weeks.
RECALL OF CERTAIN STAGES OF THE PROCEEDINGS THAT LED TO THE TRIAL
Fabien NERETSE had been referred to the Cour d’Assises together with two co-defendants: Emmanuel NKUNDUWIMYE and Erneste GAKWAYA, but on October 9th this year, the judge of the Cour d’Assises of Brussels issued a decision ordering the separation of cases.
It follows from that decision, the appearance of only one accused – Fabien Neretse – in the current trial, while his two former co-defendants will be the subject of a separate trial at another session of the Cour d’Assises which will be fixed at a later date. This decision, which does not affect the merits of the case, followed a preliminary hearing held on October 3rd.
At this preliminary hearing, the defense had submitted to the Cour d’Assises, that, there was no connection between the causes that could justify their joinder in the same file.
It should be recalled, that, the case joinder in question, had previously been decided by the judge’s chamber, on grounds that the cases concerned facts, which had taken place in the same context, in the same country and over a similar period.
In her reasoning, the judge of the Cour d’Assises, for her part, considered that the cases “are totally distinct from each other, except that, they are qualified in the same way and they concern facts committed in Rwanda at a same time period”, thus concluding in favor of the separation of cases for lack of linkage between the offenses.
For the first time, a Belgian jury deals with facts described as “genocide”
This is the fifth case relating to the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda tried by the Cour d’Assises in Brussels, but, it is, actually, the very first time that, a Belgian Cour d’Assises has to deal with facts qualified as genocide crimes.
The accused and charges
Fabien NERETSE, a former senior Rwandan official and businessman, is accused of having participated in the creation of the “Interahamwe” militia, of organizing and participating in several massacres and of denouncing fleeing families.
Among these families, that of the Belgian complainant, whose sister, her Rwandan husband and their daughter were killed in Kigali on 9 April 1994.
Fabien NERETSE was arrested in France and extradited to Belgium, where the investigations were at a more advanced stage.
Rejection of “correctionnalisation” and referral to the Cour d’Assises
On October 20, 2017, the judge’s chamber before the Tribunal of First instance ordered the referral of Fabien Neretse, Emmanuel Nkunduwimye et Erneste Gakwaya to the Cour d’Assises, thus rejecting the request by the Federal Prosecutor to refer the accused to the “Tribunal Correctionnel” rather than the Cour d’ Assises, a request which, was, back then, opposed by both the defense and the civil parties.
The Chamber invoked, as grounds of its decision, the degree of seriousness of the charges, the need to submit testimonies to rebuttal through a procedure allowing orality of debates and the imperative to build a worldwide social conscience through a public and contradictory debate.
This decision dismissing the “correctionalisation”, was initially open to appeal on the basis of the law of February 5, 2016, modifying the criminal law and the criminal procedure and comprising diverse provisions concerning justice, which made possible the “correctionnalisation” of all crimes, hence allowing for felonies to fall under the jurisdiction of the “Tribunal Correctionnel”, a tribunal which, basically, has jurisdiction over misdemeanors (less serious offenses).
However, the decision was later reinforced by a ruling of the Constitutional Court of Belgium – ruling number 148/2017 of 21 December 2017 – which declared unconstitutional, and annulled the provisions of the aforementioned law, thus reaffirming the jurisdiction of the Cour d’Assises in all matters involving a felony.
Qualification as “genocide”
Before the judge’s Chamber, the defense had contested the charge of “genocide” on grounds of the principle of non-retro-activity, arguing that such qualification could not be conceivable whereas “genocide” was not yet provided for in the Belgian law at the time of facts, back in 1994.
The judge’s Chamber rejected this argument of the defense and ruled in the opposite direction. It considered that the act constituting the crime of genocide had long been clearly criminalized in international law.
The chamber further elaborated that, genocide was already criminalized by international instruments sufficiently accessible to the accused, specifically, the International Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide of December 9, 1948, which explains in a clear and precise way, the conducts constituting the crime of genocide.
Joinder of cases and arrest warrant
Considering that charges against NERETSE, GAKWAYA and NKUNDUWIMYE, all lie on facts that took place in the same context, in the same country and over a similar period, the Judge’s Chamber had ordered a joinder of the cases. The judge’s Chamber had also issued an arrest order for all the accused.
The joinder was later challenged in a preliminary hearing before the Cour d’Assises. The later ordered case separation in its preliminary ruling of October 9th. It is by virtue of that ruling that Neretse alone is concerned by the current trial. The execution of the arrest order remains subject to the approval of the Cour d’Assizes.
Information on the upcoming trial
The Court has indicated that the trial could last for six weeks but without specifying the exact date of the pronouncement. In any case, except major unforeseen circumstances, the Court is likely to issue its verdict before the end of the year.
RCN Justice & Democracy and its partners have put in place a mechanism for following the case and ensuring that Rwandan populations have access to information.
Two Rwandan journalists have been deployed to Brussels; their reports on the progress of the trial are published by Pax Press in various Rwandan media. In the same way, information meetings with impacted populations and with victims will start soon.
This note is a communication from the “Justice & Memoire” program, which aims to facilitate understanding and participation, by Rwandan populations, in genocide trials based on the universal jurisdiction, and to promote the integration of the contributions of such trials into the memory of the genocide justice.
This program is implemented by RCN Justice & Democracy, PAX PRESS, Haguruka and Association Modeste et Innocent (AMI). The program follows the course of the proceedings in genocide cases based on the universal jurisdiction and informs impacted populations on the progress of the case trials.
The program receives financial support from the government of Belgium through the Directorate General for Development (DGD). Program broadcasts do not engage the responsibility of DGD.(Fin)