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| |  | | Emmanuel Bagambiki | | | context : | Rwanda  | | judgement place : | ICTR (Rwanda) | | status : | Acquitted | | particulars : | Acquitted by the ICTR Trial Chamber on 25 February 2004 and by the Appeals Chamber on 8 February 2006 | | position : | Prefect of Cyangugu Region |
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| | | | Emmanuel Bagambiki was arrested in Togo on 5 June 1998 and transferred to the ICTR the following month.
He was tried in a combined trial with Samuel Imanishimwe and André Ntagerura (see "related cases") in the “Cyangugu Trial” which opened on 19 September 2000.
Emmanuel Bagambiki was accused of having:
- participated in many meetings, together with several personalities from Cyangugu, in order to prepare, instigate and organise genocide;
- participated, directly or indirectly, in the training of, as well as the distribution of arms to, the Interahamwe, who subsequently committed massacres against the Tutsi civilian population;
- participated in the drafting of lists of persons to be eliminated, in the main Tutsis, but also Hutu members of the opposition. These lists were then transmitted to regular soldiers and the militia in order for them to arrest and execute these persons;
- taken part in the attacks against the cathedral as well as in the murders of the refugees in the stadium.
On 25 February 2004, the ICTR acquitted Emmanuel Bagambiki (André Ntagerura was also acquitted, but Samuel Imanishimwe was sentenced to 27 years in prison). It was held that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the meetings of the MRND had any criminal intent or that they had a link to any criminal activity.
With respect to the killings of the refugees in the cathedral, it was the Tribunal’s judgment that the prosecution had not supplied sufficient evidence to prove that Bagambiki had been aware of them, that the principal perpetrators of these acts had not been identified and, that, consequently, any link between them and Bagambiki had not been proven.
Furthermore, in the light of evidence supplied by one witness, it appeared that, on 13th and 14th April, Bagambiki had even tried to prevent any further attack against the refugees, when he personally intervened to stop people with arms from advancing towards the cathedral.
The Tribunal did reach the conclusion that Bagambiki had made a selection of between thirteen and twenty-five refugees in the stadium from a pre-established list. Even so, the Tribunal concluded that there was insufficient evidence to determine that Bagambiki had been aware of the fate which awaited these refugees. On this point, Judge William issued a dissenting opinion.
Concerning the murder of Hutu civilians in the Cyangugu region, the Tribunal noted that the prosecution had not cited a single case where Bagambiki was said to have incited a subordinate to commit such an act. Neither did the prosecution prove that he was aware of such acts and that he had failed in his duty to take measures to prevent them.
The Tribunal also pointed to a problem related to the setting out of the charges in the indictment, where it was not entirely apparent whether Bagambiki was being charged as the prime suspect or as an accomplice.
The Tribunal concluded that the prosecutor had not supplied sufficient proof to establish that Bagambiki was the perpetrator of the crime of genocide, nor had he proven his guilt whether it be as the principal perpetrator, as an accomplice or a hierarchical superior. The Tribunal also judged that he could not be considered as having responsibility for the acts committed by soldiers, gendarmes or other persons who had murdered Tutsis.
The Tribunal therefore acquitted Emmanuel Bagambiki and took provisional measures intended to facilitate a possible retrial in the event of an appeal by the prosecution.
The prosecutor lodged an appeal against the decision of the ICTR.
On 8 February 2006, the ICTR Appeals Chamber confirmed the acquittal of Emmanuel Bagambiki (see Judgment of 7 July 2006, for the legal developments). | |     click for more... | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Rwanda | | | date of birth : | | | 08.03.1948 | | | last time seen : | | | Arusha (Tanzania) | | | period of charges : | | | 01.01.1994 - 31.07.1994 | | | judgement period : | | | 19.08.2000 - 25.02.2004 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
Genocide
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 30.11.2009 |
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