afrol News, 19 December - At last, it became clear that three French military officers will testify before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Arusha, Tanzania. According to news leaks, the officers will not be personally present in court. Rather, they will testify via a video conference in early January.

A tribunal, headed by a Gambian judge, Hassan Abubacarr Jallow, last week subpoenaed the officers to testify. But the French Defence Ministry was quick to say that - "for security reasons" - the officers would not be personally appearing before the tribunal.

The officers were given pseudonyms - SX-1, VIP-1 and TT-02. They will make their testimony in the trial of Militaries I, to be held on 15 January next year.

The tribunal agreed to allow the officers to make their testimonies in chambers and that a French government representative would be around to advise them the questions to answer.

This is the second time in history that French military officers testify in the same manner before UN Tribunal, as another testified earlier this month.

The defence team of the former head of military operations of the Rwandan Armed Forces, Brigadier General Gratien Kabiligi, who was accused of being among those who lit the genocide fire and crimes against humanity in Rwanda in 1994.

General Kabiligi is facing trial alongside three other top military officers. This includes the former Chief of Staff at the Defence Ministry of Rwanda, Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, who is accused of being the mastermind of the three-month long genocide during which around 900,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

The UN backed Tribunal started operations in 1997 and has sentenced 27 people and acquitted five suspects.

The role of France in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has been especially controversial, as current Rwandan President Paul Kagame accuses Paris of having been supportive to the Rwandan regime that stood behind the slaughtering. In response, the French judiciary has blamed President Kagame - who led the rebels that ousted the genocidal militias - of being responsible for an incident they claim to have "triggered" the genocide.

France has been accused by Rwanda - and found guilty by a European human rights court - of not being supportive in trying Rwandan genocide suspects. The French judiciary has not followed up on suspects living in France, which could have been sentenced for genocide or extradited to the ICTR.

Last month, Rwanda cut all diplomatic ties with France over accusations made by a French court against President Kagame and others ousting the genocidal militias. A French judge claimed to have proof Mr Kagame had stood bashing the killing of the ex-Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi and some French citizens.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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