Prosecutor v. Ruggiu, Case No. ICTR-97-32-I, Judgment and Sentence (June 1, 2000).
TRIAL CHAMBER I
Original: English
Before:
Judge Navanethem Pillay, Presiding
Judge Erik Møse
Judge Pavel Dolenc
Registrar: Dr Agwu Ukiwe Okali
Decision of: 1 June 2000
THE PROSECUTOR
v.
Georges RUGGIU
Case No. ICTR-97-32-I
JUDGEMENT AND SENTENCE
Office of the Prosecutor:
Carla del Ponte
Mohamed Othman
William T. Egbe
Counsel for the Accused:
Mohammed Aouini
Jean Louis Gilissen
A. Background
II. LAW AND APPLICABLE PRINCIPLES
(i) any aggravating circumstances;
(ii) any mitigating circumstances including the substantial co-operation with the Prosecutor by the convicted person before or after conviction;
(iii) the general practice regarding prison sentences in the courts of Rwanda;
(iv) the extent to which any penalty imposed by a court of any State on the convicted person for the same act has already been served, as referred to in Article 9(3) of the Statute.
Category 1
(a) persons whose criminal acts or those whose acts place them among planners, organizers, supervisors and leaders of the crime of genocide or of a crime against humanity;
(b) Persons who acted in positions of authority at the national, prefectural, communal, sector or cell, or in a political party, the army, religious organizations, or militia and who perpetrated or fostered such crimes;
(c) Notorious murderers who by virtue of the zeal or excessive malice with which they committed atrocities, distinguished themselves in their areas of residence or where they went;
(d) Persons who committed acts of sexual violence.
Category 2
Persons whose criminal acts or whose acts of criminal participation place them among perpetrators, conspirators or accomplices of intentional homicide or of serious assault against the person causing death.
Category 3
Persons whose criminal acts or whose acts of criminal participation make them guilty of other serious assaults against the person.
Category 4
Persons who committed offences against property.@
The Accused’s Background
The Accused’s Role during the Events in Rwanda
(i) The accused admits that he was a journalistic broadcaster for RTLM. He admits that all broadcasts were directed towards rallying the population against the "enemy", the RPF and those who were considered to be allies of the RPF, regardless of their ethnic background. He admits that RTLM broadcasts generally referred to those considered to be RPF allies as RPF "accomplices". The meaning of this term gradually expanded to include the civilian Tutsi population and Hutu politicians opposed to the Interim Government.
(ii) The accused states that in the months following his arrival in Rwanda, he noticed changes in the Rwandan political scene. The country was slipping senselessly into further violence against a background of increasing ethnic problems and rifts.
(iii) The accused acknowledges that the widespread use of the term "Inyenzi" conferred the de facto meaning of "persons to be killed". Within the context of the civil war in 1994, the term "Inyenzi" became synonymous with the term "Tutsi". The accused acknowledges that the word "Inyenzi", as used in a socio-political context, came to designate the Tutsis as "persons to be killed". He also admits that during one broadcast he said that the 1959 revolution ought to be completed in order to preserve its achievements.
(iv) The accused admits that as part of the move to appeal for, or encourage, "civil defence", he made a public broadcast to the population on several occasions to "go to work". The phrase "go to work" is a literal translation of the Rwandan expression that Phocas Habimana, Manager of the RTLM, expressly instructed the accused to use during his broadcasts. With time, this expression came to clearly signify "go fight against members of the RPF and their accomplices." With the passage of time, the expression came to mean, "go kill the Tutsis and Hutu political opponents of the interim government."
(v) The accused also admits having broadcast over the RTLM that:
(vi) The accused admits that he made the following statements during some of his broadcasts on the RTLM radio station:
(vii) The accused admits that he broadcast discriminatory and threatening remarks over the radio against the political stance adopted by the Belgian government in Rwanda and the behaviour of UNAMIR, especially the Belgian contingent. The accused waged a media war against the Belgians over the RTLM to attack the international policy adopted by the Belgian government towards Rwanda.
(viii) The accused admits that between 8 and 13 April 1994, he was informed of large-scale infiltration of RPF members into Gikondo. To alert the RTLM Editor-in-chief, Gaspard Gahigi , who lived in Gikondo, he broadcast a warning to the Gikondo population about the presence of the infiltrators. Gaspard Gahigi subsequently explained to the accused that many persons, including women and children, were killed as a result of the broadcaast.
(ix) The RTLM broadcast the names of persons such as Faustin Tagiramungu, Prime Minister-designate of the broad-based transitional government formed pursuant to the Arusha Accords, and Lando Ndasinga, Minister of Social Affairs, and accused them of being RPF accomplices. Lando Ndasinga was killed on 7 April 1994. The accused admits that during one of the broadcasts, he accused Tagiramungu of being one of those responsible for the assassination of President Habyarimana and six other political luminaries, and then broadcast that the "popular masses were lying in wait" for Tagiramungu.
(x) The accused acknowledges that he, like other RTLM broadcasters, intermittently played songs, with the intent of encouraging the population to fight the enemy. One such song is entitled "Naanga Abakwtie", which means, "I do not like the Hutu."
(xi) The accused acknowledges that RTLM broadcasts reflected the political ideology and plans of extremist Hutus, particularly members of MRND and the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic ("CDR"). He admits that RTLM broadcasts incited young Rwandans, Interahamwe militiamen and soldiers to engage in armed conflict against the "enemy" and its accomplices and to kill and inflict serious bodily and mental harm on Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
(xii) The accused admits that on 1 June 1994, he congratulated the Interahamwe and gendarmes of Gitega and Muhima for capturing a 50 Bromville Mark machine gun, made in the United States of America, from the "enemy".
(xiii) The accused admits that RTLM broadcasters, managerial and editorial staff bear full responsibility for the 1994 massacre of Tutsis and Hutu opposition party members.
Aggravating circumstances
Mitigating circumstances
(i) The Guilty Plea
(ii) The Accused’s Cooperation with the Prosecutor
(iii) Absence of Criminal Record
(iv) Character of the Accused
(v) Regret and Remorse
(vi) Accused’s Assistance to Victims
(vii) Accused’s Position with Radio Telévison Libres des Milles Collines and in Political Life.
(viii) No Personal Participation in the Killings
IV. VERDICT
TRIAL CHAMBER I
FOR THE FOREGOING REASONS
DELIVERING its decision in public;
PURSUANT to Articles 23, 26 and 27 of the Statute and Rules 100, 101, 102, 103 and 104 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence;
NOTING the general practice of sentencing by the Courts of Rwanda;
NOTING the indictment confirmed on 9 October 1997;
NOTING the Guilty Plea of Georges Ruggiu on 15 May 2000, Trial Chamber I found that,
(i) from 6 January 1994 to 14 July 1994, in his capacity as a journalist and broadcaster, he made broadcasts over RTLM. These broadcasts were made in French, however certain terms in Kinyarwanda were also utilized which had a particular meaning in the socio-cultural context of the time. (paragraph 3.7 of the Indictment).
(ii) through his broadcasts the accused incited to kill and cause serious bodily or mental harm to Tutsis; persecuted Tutsis, certain Hutus and Belgians. (paragraph 3.8 of the Indictment).
COUNT 1 of the Indictment: Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide, as stipulated in Article 2 (3)(c) of the Statute;
1. The acts of the accused, in relation to the events described in paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8, constitute direct and public incitement to kill and cause serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Tutsi population. The accused acted with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic or racial group as such, and has hereby, committed DIRECT AND PUBLIC INCITEMENT TO COMMIT GENOCIDE stipulated in Article 2 (3)(c) of the Statute as a crime, for which he is individually responsible pursuant to Article 6 (1), and which is punishable in reference to Articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal.
and,
COUNT 2 of the Indictment: a Crime against Humanity (Persecution), as stipulated in Article 3(h) of the Statute;
2. The acts of the accused in relation to the events described in paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8 constitute persecution, on political and racial grounds, in connection with a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on national, political, ethnic or racial grounds, and he has thereby committed CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY stipulated in Article 3 (h) of the Statute as a crime, for which he is individually responsible pursuant to Article 6 (1), and which is punishable in reference to articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal.
NOTING the briefs submitted by the parties;
HAVING HEARD the Closing Statements of the Prosecutor and the Defence Counsel;
IN PUNISHMENT OF THE ABOVEMENTIONED CRIMES,
SENTENCES Georges Ruggiu
Born on 12 October 1957 in Verviers, Province of Lieges, Belgium.
To :
COUNT 1 (direct and public incitement to commit Genocide): twelve (12) years of imprisonment;
COUNT 2 (Crime against humanity): twelve (12) years of imprisonment;
DECIDES that Georges Ruggiu shall serve his two sentences concurrently;
RULES that imprisonment shall be served in a State designated by the President of the Tribunal, in consultation with the Trial Chamber, and the said designation shall be conveyed to the Government of Rwanda and the designated State by the Registry;
RULES that this judgement shall be enforced immediately, and that until his transfer to the said place of imprisonment, Georges Ruggiu shall be kept in detention under the present conditions;
RULES that the period of time that the accused has been detained in custody shall be deducted from his sentence. Under Rule 101 (D) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Trial Chamber is required to give credit to the convicted person for the period, if any, during which he was detained in custody pending his surrender to the International Tribunal, or pending trial or appeal. In the instant case, the accused was arrested on 23 July 1997. The relevant period of time spent in custody will therefore run from that date.
Arusha, 1 June 2000.
Navanethem Pillay, Presiding Judge
Erik Møse, Judge
Pavel Dolenc, Judge
(Seal of the Tribunal)