At the trial of the former Rwandan prefect Laurent Bucyibaruta, accused of genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity, the day of this Tuesday is devoted to the witnesses of the massacres of the church of Kibeho, in the prefecture of Gikongoro which led the accused at the time of the genocide.
With our special correspondent at the Paris court, Claire Fages
This Tuesday morning, they were two to testify, both farmers, both part-time employees at the local tea factory, both witnesses of the massacres of the Kibeho church, but not in the same camp.
The first, Theoneste Bicamimpaka, is interviewed in Visio from Kigali. He is still being held in Gikongoro prison. He has participated to the massacres of Tutsis in this parish between April 13 and 15, but he insists: “ the prefect gave us instructions “.
He recounts having witnessed the altercation between the sub-prefect Damien Biniga and the abbot of Kibeho who refused to hand over the Tutsis who had taken refuge in his parish. ” Didn’t the gendarmes push you back when you tried to attack the church? “, tries a defense lawyer. ” How could they push us away since we were there to help them? – implied “to kill” – answers this first witness.
The second witness, Calixte Gatete, was present at the hearing without being a civil party. This Tutsi survivor saw civilians among his colleagues in the tea factory start handling weapons after training on the nearby hill. And he had to take refuge in the Kibeho church with his family. On the third day of the massacres, the gendarmes arrived with guns, he says. The church was burnt down. About 40,000 people were killed, including his sister and five nephews.