On July 12, after two months of hearings and 11 hours of deliberation, the Paris Assize Court dismissed the responsibility of Laurent Bucyibaruta as the perpetrator of the massacres of Tutsis perpetrated in his province of Gikongoro, between April and July 1994. For these killings where nearly 100,000 people lost their lives, the accused, considered an "
accomplice to genocide
" and an "
accomplice to crimes against humanity
", was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.
With a wave of his hand, the 78-year-old former prefect, clinging to his cane, greeted his sobbing family before leaving the dock, escorted by the gendarmes.
"Half measure"
The stakes of this trial were high.
In the context of the genocide of the Tutsis, it was "
the
first time that a national court, outside Rwanda, judges (has) such an important personality
by his rank in the hierarchy
", recalled the prosecution in its indictment on Friday.
The challenge: to determine the exact responsibility of this prefect.
Had he been a spectator, executor or engine of the massacres within his prefecture?
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For the civil parties, the answer was clear.
The prefect indeed ordered the attacks, invited the tens of thousands of Tutsis to take refuge in the church of Kibeho to burn it then, or in the technical school of Murambi to let the Hutu attackers land there, armed with machetes. and firearms.
For these two massacres, the judge considered the elements insufficient to make the prefect the “
author
” of the crimes.
“
It is not going to the end of what we would have liked, it is clear
”, confides Alain Gauthier, co-president of the Collective of civil parties for Rwanda (CPCR), qualifying this verdict as a “
half measure
”.
“
On April 13, the prefect organizes a meeting where he summons the mayors and all the bodies of his prefecture.
Coincidentally, Kibeho was attacked the next day.
And there would be no cause and effect relationship?
», protests his wife Dafroza, co-president of the CPCR, whose whole family died in the church of Kibeho.
A vision that the public prosecutor seemed to share during his indictment on Friday.
"
This man did not kill anyone, but he has the blood of all the victims on him
," said Cécile Viguier, one of the two general counsel, on behalf of the public prosecutor.
The prosecution then demanded life imprisonment.
He finally sentenced the septuagenarian to 20 years in prison.
Challenge
Twenty-eight years after the events, however, plunging back into an extremely complex genocidal context has been a challenge.
Two months of hearings, scientific expertise, 115 testimonies of unprecedented violence were necessary for the new Crimes Against Humanity Unit in Paris to recompose the puzzle of the events.
In this avalanche of testimonies, intertwining vivid memories, the jury had to decide.
In fact, how to imagine and recompose a period when those who refused to take part in the massacres were themselves massacred?
“
Despite the meticulous investigation, the file remains
very nebulous
”, confides one of the lawyers for the civil parties himself.
For their part, the defense lawyers defended a "
moderate Hutu
", balanced on a "
ridge line
".
Hunched back, weak voice, the former prefect, who remained seated in the dock, defended himself until the end of the trial.
"
I was
completely overwhelmed
", he justified himself, repeating the very morning of the verdict to have "
never been on the side of the killers
".
“
Mr. Bucyibaruta cannot claim to be 100% innocent, but he is not a fundamentally bad man.
He must simply bear his responsibilities
”, tempered for his part Me Harelimana, lawyer for civil parties.
A version that survivors' associations have rejected.
“
There are no little people in a genocide
,” argues Étienne Nsanzimana, president of the Ibuka (“
Remember
”) association.
Gikongoro was also only 50 km from the Burundian border.
Why did Laurent Bucyibaruta not accept the dismissal and flee, as other prefects did during this period?
“
We always have a choice.
If you don't want to compromise yourself, you take the car and leave
,” Dafroza said.
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The civil parties regretted the accused's lack of empathy, who did not hesitate to point out, according to them, "
lies
" in certain testimonies.
“
It is hardly surprising,
considers Étienne Nsanzimana,
since denial constitutes a crime against humanity
.
These people always talk about war, about events, but the word genocide does not come to their mouths
”
.
The president of
IBUKA is sorry for the 20 years lost since the first complaint against the former prefect was filed in 2002
.
-he.
“
The important thing is that the trial took place
, declared Me Foreman, lawyer of the CPCR
The defendant is forced to return accounts, and a page of this history will be able to turn
.