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| |  | | André Ntagerura | | | context : | Rwanda  | | judgement place : | ICTR (Rwanda) | | status : | Acquitted | | particulars : | Acquitted by the Trial Chamber of the ICTR on 25 February 2004; verdict confirmed by the ICTR Appeals Chamber on 8 February 2006 | | position : | Minister for Transport and Communications |
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| | | | André Ntagerura was born on 2 January 1950 in Karengera in the prefecture of Cyangugu, Rwanda. From March 1981 until July 1994, he was a member of the Rwandan government, his last post being that of Minister for Transport and Communications in the interim government. Furthermore, Ntagerura was an influential Minister and prominent personality within the party in power, the National Republican Movement for Development and Democracy (French acronym MRND), in the south west of Rwanda. In this capacity, he contributed to defining the political programme of the MRND.
Between 1 January 1994 and 31 July 1994, and even prior to this period, according to the indictment, Ntagerura and other important individuals from the MRND in Cyangugu, were said to have held meetings amongst themselves and with others in order to organise, prepare and instigate the genocide of the Tutsi population. However, the Third Trial Chamber of the International Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was only able to allow beyond all reasonable doubt that Ntagerura was present at the Bushenge marketplace meeting in Cyangugu on 7 February 1993, and that he had taken his turn to speak. In his discourse, Ntagerura had indeed used words which suggested rejection of the Inkotanyi and the Inyenzi (derogatory terms in the Kinyarwanda language used by extremist Hutu to describe the Tutsi). However, the Chamber judged that it had not been proven that the aim of this reunion had been to organise, prepare and instigate genocide.
According to the accusation, between 1 January and 31 July 1994, Ntagerura reportedly allowed and/or authorised the use of government vehicles, notably coaches, in order to transport militiamen, armed Interahamwe (Hutu extremist militia), civilians, including members of the Tutsi population, as well as weapons and ammunition towards and throughout the Cyangugu prefecture. Furthermore, he was accused of having encouraged and participated in the training of the Interahamwe in the Karengera commune and other communes throughout the territory of Cyangugu prefecture. Again, however, the Third Trial Chamber was unable to establish that these allegations were well founded.
Between 1 January 1994 and 31 July 1994, according to the indictment, Ntagerura was said to be seen often in the company of Yussuf Munyakazi (see "related cases") and is said to have lent support to him and to the Interahamwe in Cyangugu prefecture and more precisely in the commune of Bugarama. During this period, Ntagerura was also accused of travelling throughout the Cyangugu prefecture, often accompanied by Emmanuel Bagambiki (see "related cases") and Yussuf Munyakazi, in order to oversee the activities of the Interahamwe and to verify that orders to kill the Tutsis and political opponents were being carried out. Although the Third Trial Chamber allowed that Ntagerura had gone on several occasions to Cyangugu, it nevertheless considered that no credible proof existed to establish beyond all reasonable doubt that Ntagerura had publicly expressed his support in Cyangugu for Munyakazi or for the Interahamwe or that he had often been seen during the massacres in the company of Munyakazi or Bagambiki verifying that orders to kill the Tutsi were being carried out.
The Chamber also concluded that no reliable or credible proof existed to show that Ntagerura had pursued his activities in Cyangugu prefecture and that he had played the role of supervisor there throughout 1994, or that he had attended a meeting during which the President (ad interim) Sindikubwabo had congratulated the local population for having killed Tutsi, as asserted in the indictment.
At end July 1994, faced with the advance of troops of the FPR (Rwandan Patriotic Front, an opposition movement composed essentially of Tutsi refugees and led by Paul Kagame), Ntagerura fled Rwanda. On 27 March 1996, he was arrested in Cameroon. | |     click for more... | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Rwanda | | | date of birth : | | | 02.01.1950 | | | period of charges : | | | 01.01.1994 - 31.07.1994 | | | judgement period : | | | 18.09.2000 - 08.02.2006 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
Genocide
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 24.01.2007 |
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