23.03.07 - ICTR/KAMUHANDA - THE INVESTIGATION INTO WITNESS TAMPERING AT THE ICTR TO REMAIN SECRET

Arusha, March 23, 2007 (FH) – The investigation ordered in May 2005 by the Appeals Chamber into a possible implication of agents of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) into an attempted witness tampering will not be made public, the spokesperson for the prosecution announced this week. During a hearing in the appeal of Jean Kamuhanda, former Rwandan Minister of Culture and Higher Education, two witnesses who came said that they regretted being involved in the denouncement. Then, the person whom they attributed as being responsible for the allegations said that she was contacted in Rwanda by two representatives of the Tribunal who offered her money if she modified her testimony. These testimonies, even those compiled in part in closed session, caused much commotion. The Registrar, during a meeting with personnel at the ICTR, warned against any attempt to tamper with the integrity of the tribunal. The prosecutor entrusted the investigation to an American, Mrs. Loretta Lynch, not part of the Tribunal. The spokesperson for the Tribunal then announced that the results would be made public before the end of 2005. Almost two years later, the investigation was put back by the prosecutor to the beginning of the year and became classified as an “internal and confidential document” according to Timothy Gallimore, the spokesperson for the prosecutor. Questioned several times about the matter, he simply announced that an indictement would be issued in the next two weeks. The primary concerned individual, Jean Kamuhanda, sentenced to life imprisonment at the Trial Chamber in January 2004 (sentenced confirmed in appeal in September 2005), does not seem to have been informed of this matter. His lawyer, Aicha Conde, is also awaiting news. She unsuccessfully asked on three occasions to be heard by Mrs. Lynch. After the appeals judgment, she denounced a “judicial error.” “All elements of law and fact should have,” according to her, “led to a modification of the judgment.” This opinion was shared by numerous observers including jurists working at the Tribunal, speaking on condition of anonymity. The witness who claims to have been the victim of pressure is the chief prosecution witness. According to numerous lawyers in another trial which resulted in an acquittal, the judges excluded her testimony because of credibility problems. This information could not be confirmed. If her testimony should be reconsidered, a request for revision could be initiated. A request for review can only be based on new facts. The only one to have been accepted at present at the ICTR aimed at the decision of the Appeals Chamber to free Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza. Faced with protests on the streets of Kigali and threats by the Rwandan government, the Tribunal backed down. PB/ER/KD © Hirondelle News Agency