After five years, the trial of Theoneste Bagosora (second from left), the alleged mastermind of the Rwandan genocide, ended on Friday. Together with three other top army commanders, Bagosora was accused of planning and coordinating the slaughter by Hutus of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994.At the Arusha-based international criminal tribunal for Rwanda, prosecutors call this “the most important genocide trial” since the term was legally defined in 1948.
On the stand, Bagosora denied the charges. He also showed a cold contempt for the proceedings. If there was any real “devil” meant by UN peacekeeper Romeo Dallaire (far right in the photo) in his book about Rwanda, Shake Hands with the Devil, it was likely Bagosora.
| Arrested in Cameroon in 1996 and charged a year later, Mr Bagosora made little attempt to win over the three judges. Asked to illustrate how a subordinate would carry out an order, he gave the example of assigning someone to kill a member of the courtroom. Asked about a report that he had appeared at roadblocks alongside the death squads, he said it was an insult to a man of his rank.Referring to a prosecution statement comparing him to Hitler, he said, “Neither Hitler, Himmler or Goering ever went running around in Berlin to flush out Jews to be killed,” he said. He refused to acknowledge the genocide, instead referring to “excessive massacres”. |
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