DATE=11/22/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RWANDA / WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256435
BYLINE=TODD PITMAN
DATELINE=KIGALI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Rwandan officials say they have refused an
entry visa to the U-N's chief war crimes prosecutor to
protest the release of a prominent Rwandan genocide
suspect. As Todd Pitman reports from the Rwandan
capital, Kigali, the refusal is a sign of rising
tensions between Rwanda and the U-N war crimes
tribunal, which was set up to try the people believed
responsible for the country's 1994 genocide.
TEXT: The U-N's chief war crimes prosecutor, Carla
Del Ponte, was expected to visit Rwanda on Monday to
patch up relations with officials here after the
botched prosecution of genocide suspect Jean-Bosco
Barayagwiza.
Mr. Barayagwiza was director of public affairs in
Rwanda's foreign ministry when the 1994 genocide began
and is alleged to have led the media to incite ethnic
Hutus into slaughtering minority Tutsis.
Mr. Barayagwize was arrested in Cameroon and
transferred to the Rwanda war crimes tribunal in
Tanzania in November 1997. He pleaded not guilty to
six charges of genocide, but his case never came to
trial. And, earlier this month, the tribunal released
Mr. Barayagwiza on a technicality, saying he had spent
too long in prison awaiting trial.
Ms. Del Ponte says she regrets mistakes made by
prosecutors in the Barayagwiza case, but Rwanda
insists the ruling should be overturned.
It is not the first time Rwanda has criticized the
U-N court.
The tribunal was set up in 1994 to try people believed
responsible for the country's genocide. But the court
has handed down only five verdicts since it was set
up.
Both the Rwandan government and detained suspects have
sharply criticized the international court for its
slowness in bringing about justice, despite huge
amounts of money that have been given to fund it.
Rwandan Attorney General Gerald Gahima says the
release of Mr. Barayagwiza sets an ominous precedent
for the 38 other cases before the tribunal. And until
the Barayagwiza ruling is reversed, Rwandan officials
say they have little interest in meeting the U-N war
crimes prosecutor. (Signed)
NEB/TP/JWH/KL
22-Nov-1999 07:57 AM EDT (22-Nov-1999 1257 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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