Global Policy Forum

A prosecution witness in the so-called "Military Trial" today gave judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) a detailed account of meetings and activities through which the 1994 genocide was planned and executed.

The witness -- identified only as "ZF" -- began his testimony yesterday partly in closed session, to protect his identity, and partly in open court. Although ZF's identity and profession has not been disclosed to the public, he has said in court that he worked in military intelligence circles in Gisenyi Province, northwestern Rwanda.

ZF listed names of former military officers, governors and mayors who met at the Biroto military camp in Gisenyi, saying these people at times met under the leadership of alleged genocide mastermind Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, one of the four defendants in the trial. Among the people ZF named are those currently indicted by the ICTR as well as the other defendants in the trial. ZF is testifying against Bagosora, Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, Brigadier-General Gratien Kabiligi and Major Aloys Ntabakuze. The four allegedly masterminded the 1994 Rwandan genocide through their control in the military. They have denied charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The witness told the court that after these meetings, weapons were distributed to 'Interahamwe' and 'Impuzamugambi' militia groups. The Interahamwe was the youth wing of the Movement of the Republic for National Development (MRND) party and the Impuzamugambi was allied to the Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) party.

"In 1993, they received portable [Motorola] transmitters to be able to communicate between them and the lieutenant who was in charge of them, as well as Anatole Nsengiyumva, the operations commander," the witness claimed. According to ZF, those who took part in the Biroto meetings were members of informal groups known as the Zero Network, Les Dragons (the dragons), Abakozi (Kinyarwanda for leaders) and L'escadrons de la mort (death squads).

Although these terms have previously been mentioned before the ICTR, ZF is the first witness to explain them comprehensively. "The Zero Network was a communication network. The death squads were a group of well-trained people who executed the decisions of this network. The dragons were a few people who were the masterminds of these activities and who were behind all anti-enemy activities, it was a secret group, a closely knit group.

The Abakozi were the same as the dragons. The terms were synonymous," ZF explained. According to the witness, one of the first meetings by these groups was held in 1992. ZF testified that he later overheard two of the participants, Leon Mugesera and a man named Habyabere talking about the decisions taken during that meeting.

"They were speaking about the extermination of the Tutsis. They said they had to put into action what had just been said in the meeting. The main subject was what they had to do to stop the extermination of the Hutu by the RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front) and the only way to do this was to exterminate the Tutsi," ZF said.

Mugesera and Habyabere later went to Kayove commune in Gisenyi, ZF claimed, where they called a meeting with the local mayors. "They spoke to them about the decisions that had been taken at the meeting and in the following days there were problems There was an uprising against Tutsis, their houses were burned down and some of them were killed," ZF alleged.

The witness also gave details of an extensive radio network communication through which orders were given to soldiers and members of the militia. According to ZF, Nsengiyumva, who was in charge of military intelligence in Gisenyi in 1993 and 1994, was responsible for the orders given to militia. The witness claimed that many militiamen often went to the military camp to see Nsengiyumva.

"After Nsengiyumva came to Gisenyi, the militia came to the military camp often yes orders were given through these networks, which is why the militia had been given these transmitters. They were Motorolas. Through them they could be given orders by the lieutenant who was in charge of coordinating the activities of the militia the lieutenant got his orders from the chief of operations who was Nsengiyumva," ZF told the court.

Elaborating further on the role of the militia, ZF said the Rwandan forces relied on them to cover the areas where "the military had no presence." He added that plainclothes soldiers trained the militiamen trained in Bigogwe camp.

ZF said there was a radio station at the Gisenyi camp that was not used by ordinary military communication traffic but used exclusively by the Zero Network. "Only they [the Zero Network members] knew how to use it and how it operated. It was operated by the dragons and it was located in the home of the commander [of the Gisenyi military camp]," ZF said.

Nsengiyumva was chief of military intelligence and commander of military operations in Gisenyi between 1993 and 1994.Bagosora served as director of cabinet in the ministry of defense during the violence. Kabiligi was chief of military operations in the Rwandan army during the genocide and Ntabakuze was commander of the para-commando battalion of the Rwandan army in 1994. The trial continues before Trial Chamber III of the ICTR, comprising Judges Lloyd Williams of St Kitts and Nevis (presiding), Pavel Dolenc of Slovenia and Andresia Vaz of Senegal.

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