Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
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Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity A Digest of the Case Law of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-586-5 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org ii GENOCIDE, WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: A DIGEST OF THE CASE LAW OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... iv DEDICATION ....................................................................................................... v FOREWORD ......................................................................................................... vi SUMMARY TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................... vii FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................... ix SUMMARY OF JUDGMENTS AGAINST THE ACCUSED .............................. 1 LISTING OF CASES INCLUDED ..................................................................... 12 TOPICAL DIGEST .............................................................................................. 15 GLOSSARY OF DEFINED TERMS ................................................................. 479 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author of this digest is Jennifer Trahan, Consultant, Of Counsel, to the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, and an Independent Expert and Consultant in the field of International Justice. Ms. Trahan is also Assistant Clinical Professor of Global Affairs at N.Y.U. Richard Dicker, Director of the International Justice Program, provided overall guidance. Aisling Reidy, Senior Legal Advisor, provided the legal review. Leslie Haskell, a researcher in the Africa Division, provided additional review by the Africa Division. Mia Psorn and Linda Louie, Associates in the International Justice Program, and Anna Lopriore, Creative Manager and Photo Editor, provided additional assistance. Professor Trahan also appreciates the assistance of students and colleagues: Erica Aghedo, Carla De Ycaza, Donivan Barton, Sumit Galhotra, Kristin Gallagher, Lisa Gambone, Devyani Kacker, Alec Knight, Stephen Koppel, Maria Kyriacou, Shaya Lerner, Amber Lewis, Victoria Macchi, Lindsay Ryder, Jaclyn Shettler, David Stoelting, Scarlett Van-Syoc and Alison Welski. The digest builds on the earlier work of Jennifer Trahan (then Counsel to the International Justice Program) and Anne Ferrari (then an intern to the International Justice Program), who compiled Human Rights Watch’s 2004 publication: “Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: A Digest of the Case Law of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.” Ms. Trahan is also responsible for compiling Human Rights Watch’s 2006 publication: “Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: A Digest of the Case Law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.” Professor Trahan wishes to acknowledge her late mother, Elizabeth Welt Trahan, a scholar, professor, writer and Holocaust survivor, as a source of inspiration for this volume. Human Rights Watch is grateful to The Planethood Foundation and another donor for providing funding for this digest. Human Rights Watch is also grateful to the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP for providing assistance in formatting the digest. Human Rights Watch above all acknowledges and appreciates the diligent work of the judges and their staff at the ICTR and the Appeals Chamber of the ad hoc tribunals in producing this extremely significant body of case law. iv DEDICATION Human Rights Watch dedicates this digest to the memory of Dr. Alison DesForges, a valued and trusted colleague and friend, who as senior advisor at Human Rights Watch was one of the world’s leading authorities on the Rwandan genocide. After decading more than 40 years to the country and the Great Lakes region, she died on February 12, 2009, in a plane crash near Buffalo, New York. Alison was the author of the 800-page award-winning account of the genocide, “Leave None to Tell the Story.” In 1999, she received a “genius award” from the MacArthur Foundation for her work documenting the slaughter in Rwanda. Alison appeared as an expert witness in 11 trials at the ICTR. She also appeared in judicial proceedings involving genocide suspects in four other national jurisdictions, including three trials in Belgium as well as trials in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Canada. When she believed that individuals were falsely accused of involvement in the genocide, she worked for their freedom. Despite having documented the killings of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans during the genocide, Alison drew the wrath of the current Rwandan government by insisting on justice not only for those responsible for the genocide but also for those in the Rwandan Patriotic Forces (RPF), the precursor to today’s government, who were themselves responsible for serious crimes. Although the RPF defeated the genocidal regime, Alison believed passionately that senior RPF officials should also be held to account for the crimes that they directed or tolerated, including the murder of up to 30,000 people during and just after the genocide. To date, the ICTR and Rwandan authorities have rarely pursued these cases and even then only in a way that downplayed the nature of the crime and the involvement of senior level officials. In 2008, the government banned Alison from the country after Human Rights Watch published an extensive analysis of judicial reforms in Rwanda, highlighting its progress while at the same time drawing attention to fair trial issues, identifying the lack of judicial independence as a major concern, and pointing to the failure to provide justice for victims of crimes commited by the Rwandan Patriotic Front. A Human Rights Watch employee for nearly two decades, Alison oversaw all of the organization’s work on the Great Lakes region of Africa and provided counsel to colleagues across the region and beyond. She also worked closely with Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. Alison was admired and adored by her colleagues for her extraordinary commitment to human rights principles and her tremendous generosity as a mentor and a friend. We will always miss her and will never forget the example that she provided. v FOREWORD This book contains a digest of highlights of the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal For the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations Of International Humanitarian Law Committed In The Territory Of Rwanda And Rwandan Citizens Responsible For Genocide And Other Such Violations Committed In The Territory Of Neighbouring States between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994 (the “ICTR”). The book provides quick summaries or actual quotes from the Tribunal’s judgments, which are organized topically. The digest focuses on case law regarding genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, individual responsibility, command responsibility, sentencing, fair trial requirements, appellate review, and entering guilty pleas. The digest does not address all issues arising in a case, such as evidentiary rulings or other motion practice, and only includes judgments publicly available through December 31, 2008. Many of the judgments quoted contain citations to other judgments or documents. Human Rights Watch has not reproduced those here. Please refer to the official judgments for these additional citations. This book does not contain analysis of, or commentary on, the decisions themselves. The headings contained in the digest and the organization of the digest have been created by the Author, not the ICTR. For reader accessibility, in some instances, “application” sections have been added, so that the reader may see how the law has been applied. The digest is a reference tool to assist practitioners and researchers as they familiarize themselves with the case law interpreting the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (“ICTR Statute”).* The digest is not designed to substitute for reading the actual decisions, which can be found on the website of the ICTR at http://www.ictr.org/. * Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, S.C. Res. 955, U.N. Doc. S/Res/955 (1994), as amended, found at http://www.ictr.org/ENGLISH/basicdocs/statute/2007.pdf. vi SUMMARY TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... iv DEDICATION ....................................................................................................... v FOREWORD