By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

FRANKFURT, Germany- Onesphore Rwabukombe, a former Rwandan mayor, is on trial in Frankfurt, Germany, accused of ordering three Tutsi massacres that resulted in over 3,000 deaths during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.  Rwabukombe has been charged with genocide, murder and incitement to genocide before the German court.  In a statement of the charges, prosecutor Christian Ritscher read aloud in court, “Between April 11 and 15, 1994 the accused ordered and coordinated three massacres in which a total of at least 3,730 members of the Tutsi minority who had sought refuge in church buildings were killed.”  Rwabukombe, who has been living in Germany since at least 2002, was arrested last summer and could face life in prison if convicted.

This is the third time Rwabukombe has appeared before the German courts since 2008, being released both previous times after the court decided their was a lack of evidence.  This time, prosecutors plan to call approximately 50 witnesses.  Rwanda’s Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga stated his support of the trial, telling AFP, “We are grateful to Germany.”  As the former mayor of Muvumba in northeastern Rwanda, Rwabukombe is charged with being the chief organizer of these crimes and ordering those below him to threaten any Tutsis seeking shelter with the deaths of their families.  Some of the refugees turned away by Rwabukombe’s men were later murdered.

While many of the Rwandans suspected of carrying out the genocide in 1994 that resulted in the murder of at least 800,000 are living in European countries, this is Germany’s first trial of a Rwandan suspect.  Rwandan courts have conducted some trials and a special court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, exists in Tanzania to try suspects.  Elsewhere, several European countries have conducted Rwandan genocide related trials but with a large number of suspects living all over Europe, many countries are not taking the steps to bring these people to justice.  However, recently Interpol issued almost 100 ‘red notices’ for the arrests of Rwandans living in Europe suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide.  Said Jurgen Schurr, representative for the London-based human rights group Redress, “These trials [. . .] send the important signal that these countries do not accept to provide a safe haven to suspects of such crimes.”

For more information, please see;

VOANews.com- Germany Opens First Rwanda Genocide Trial– 18 Jan., 2011

AFP- Rwandan Genocide Trial Opens in Germany– 18 Jan., 2011

BBC News- Rwandan Mayor Rwabukombe Tried For Genocide in Germany– 18 Jan., 2011

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Three Kenyan police officers have been suspended after the Daily Nation newspaper published photos of the officers shooting and killing three unarmed suspects at point blank range. Kenya’s interior minister ordered the chief of police to suspend the three individuals and called for a complete investigation. Critics of the Kenyan government claim this incident is just another example of the security forces committing brazen acts of violence without any repercussions.

This particular incident occurred Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. on Lang’ata Road, a busy highway that runs through central Nairobi. The shooting was witnessed by several people who were walking alongside the highway as well as motorists who were driving along the highway. One witness used a camera to capture the incident in a series of photographs.

According to witnesses, the officers, who were dressed in plain clothes, pulled over the suspects’ vehicle, ordered them out of the vehicle and onto the pavement.  The suspects were subsequently searched where it was discovered that one had a pistol tucked into his waist band.  The three police officers then shot and killed the three suspects at close range.

Initially the Kenyan police claimed that the suspects were armed and had fired upon the officers. However, several witnesses claimed the suspects had surrendered and exited their vehicle with their hands in the air. Furthermore this explanation of a shootout given by the police department was retracted after the Daily Nation published the photographs taken by a witness. According to these photos, it appears security forces had control of the situation, and the suspects were not resisting arrest.

This incident has gained international attention and sparked fears the Kenyan government is continuing to use security forces to carry out extrajudicial killings. Kenyans are especially sensitive to this issue given their tenuous relationship with the police in recent years. During presidential elections three years ago, an estimated 1,200 people were killed, including several hundred who allegedly were killed by the police.

Amnesty International has condemned the killings, claiming these types of crimes have occurred with great frequency in Kenya. Supporting this assertion, in 2009, the United Nations released a report which found police executions in Kenya were organized and widespread.

For more information:

BBC – Kenyan police suspended after Nairobi shooting —  20 January 2011

Daily Nation — Three officers interdicted over Nairobi killings – 19 January 2011

New York Times — Photos of Shot Kenyans Spur Calls for Police Reform – 20 January 2011

The Guardian — Three Kenyan policemen suspended over shooting of three suspects – 20 January 2011

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

FIZI, Democratic Republic of Congo – An army commander and seven other soldiers were accused and arrested yesterday for their alleged involvement in mass rapes that occurred in the eastern town of Fizi, in South Kivu province, on the evening of January 1.

Fifty women came forward to report the rapes. According to Madnodge Mounoubai, a spokesman for MONUSCO, the United Nations’ mission in DRC, the attacks were committed after a drunken soldier in a bar fired at a civilian; angry residents then killed the soldier.

“After he got killed, his colleagues heard that he was killed and they came and went on a rampage in the village. They started to loot the village, to loot the stores and to rape the women,” Mounoubai said.

A report sent to Fizi by MONUSCO accused Lieutenant Colonel Kibibi Mutware of directing the attack. Locals claimed to have witnessed him order the attack. Kibibi has denied the allegations.

Médécins Sans Frontières said women had been restrained by ropes or beaten with rifle butts before being attacked.  MSF also said that it had treated more than thirty women for injuries they suffered during the attacks.

The arrested soldiers will be put on trial as early as next week. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said that the ten detained soldiers would be tried in a Fizi court.

Rape has become a frequent weapon of war in eastern Congo, used by soldiers to intimidate and break down community structure. It is often blamed on Congo’s regular army.

Amnesty International said that the Fizi rapes constitute “another telling example of the consequences of the virtual impunity the Congolese forces benefit from.

“The failure to hold the Congolese army to account when they fail to carry out their protection role or commit crimes themselves in turn encourages further violations.”

Last summer, rebel forces in eastern Congo raped hundreds of people. According to Amnesty, which welcomed the arrests in the Fizi rapes, “more often than not investigations in the DRC are never brought to a conclusion. A recent example of this is the investigation into the mass rapes that occurred in Walikale, North Kivu, in August 2010 which have now stalled.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Troops held over DR Congo mass rape – 19 January 2011

Guardian – Congolese army commander accused of directing mass rape – 19 January 2011

IPS – Soldiers accused of rape arrested – 19 January 2011

Reuters – Congo to try government troops accused of rape – 19 January 2011

Telegraph – DR Congo mass rape suspects arrested – 19 January 2011

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

WINDHOEK, Nimibia- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal in Windhoek, Namibia has ruled against Zimbabwe and ordered them to pay compensation to torture victims who settled their cases against the country between 2003 and 2007.  The case was brought before the SADC in 2009 by 12 victims alleging Zimbabwe had refused to pay the judgments awarded them by Zimbabwe’s High Court, which total almost seventeen million US dollars.  The judgment, given by SADC Justice Arrirange Govindasamy Pillay, reads in part:

We hold, therefore…that the Respondent (government) is in breach of [. . .] the treaty in that it has acted in contravention of various fundamental human rights, namely the right to an effective remedy [and] the right to have access to an independent and impartial court or tribunal and the right to a fair hearing.

All the victims originally sued and were awarded damages after the High Court ruled that they had been victims of state sponsored violence and torture carried out by state agents.  The claims stem from election violence that occurred approximately eight years ago.  The injuries range from gun shot wounds to paralysis and beatings.  One victim, Kerina Gweshe, was awarded nearly one million US dollars after her and her husband were assaulted by soldiers in 2003.  In court documents from the original suit, Gweshe stated that soldiers broke into her home during the early morning hours, cut the telephone lines and beat Gweshe and others in her home.  During the course of the assault, Gweshe’s arm was broken when she raised it to defend against a soldier who was trying to hit her with a chair.  At one point, a soldier put the barrel of a gun in Gweshe’s mouth and demanded money.

The Zimbabwean government did not defend the case at the tribunal hearing, asserting that besides the tribunal being illegitimate, the State Liability Act protects the state and its assets from being attached to pay damages.  As part of his ruling, Justice Pillay stated that the “State Liability Act is a relic of the legal regime which was pre-constitutional and placed the state above the law.”  Even though Zimbabwe is a SADC treaty signatory, the current regime does not recognize its judicial power.  President Robert Mugabe and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa have publicly called the rulings ‘null and void’ and Zimbabwe’s High Court has denied the authority of the Tribunal’s land reform rulings.  In a broadcast this week on SW Radio Africa, analyst Professor John Makumbe said the government’s actions are “a major threat to the cohesion of the region, because it makes the Tribunal superfluous. [. . .] I can’t see how any other member state will abide by the Tribunal if Zimbabwe disregards it and gets away with it.”

For more information, please see;

Zimbabwe Independent- Zim Should Compensate Violence Victims–Tribunal– 13 Jan., 2011

ZimOnline- Landmark SADC Torture Ruling– 15 Jan., 2011

The Zimbabwean- SADC Court Says Zim Government Undermining Rule of Law– 15 Jan., 2011

Law and Justice Zimbabwe- 06-HH-028 Kerina Gweshe vs Minister Of Defence– 15 Sept., 2006

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

TUNIS, Tunisia– By Saturday morning, the ousted President of Tunisia,  Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali had safely landed in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. Even with the President’s departure, violent clashes between government security forces and protesters continue to take place in cities throughout Tunisia.

President Ben Ali had been the ruler of Tunisia for the past 23 years but ceded power after weeks of unrest culminating with an enormous rally in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The President was officially removed from power on January 14 and subsequently fled the country. News of President Ben Ali’s departure spread quickly and protesters flooded the streets to celebrate.

The power to run the government of Tunisia was transferred from Mr. Ben Ali to the Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi. However, Mr. Ghannouchi held the interim presidency for only a couple of days as mob rule set in. Responding to continuing violence, the Constitutional Council dumped Mr. Ghannouchi and installed the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Mr.  Foued Mebazaa as the interim President until elections can be held later this year. The Constitutional Council claims that elections for a new President will be held in six to seven months.

The political unrest that swept President Ben Ali out of power began several weeks ago. The unrest was punctuated by a university graduate, Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in front of a government building on December 28, 2010. He was protesting working conditions and high unemployment in Tunisia. Since this incident there have been numerous demonstrations calling for the government to fix the high level of unemployment. The Tunisian government has met these acts of civil disobedience with a mix of political maneuvers, including the sacking of an interior minister along with tighter security measures. In at least one incident, security forces fired on protesters using live ammunition. Clashes between protesters and security forces have left dozens dead or injured.

In response to the worsening political situation, security forces have stepped up patrols and instituted a curfew throughout the country. The strong showing of force is an attempt to rein in the looting and violence that is occurring.   

For more information, please see:

 Al Jazeera — Tunisia situation volatile – 16 January 2011

 BBC Africa — Tunisia: Many dead in jail unrest after Ben Ali exit – 15 January 2011

CNN International – What’s going on in Tunisia? – 16 January 2011

Reuters — Tunisia tries to form coalition, shooting on streets – 15 January 2011