Two Rwandan Hutu leaders face trial in Stuttgart accused of masterminding atrocities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from Germany, in the first trial of its kind.
Ignace Murwanashyaka, head of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and his deputy Straton Musoni, face 26 counts of crimes against humanity and 39 of war crimes.
They are accused of ordering militias to commit mass murder and rape between January 2008 and the date of their arrest in Germany in November 2009.
The case is the first to be brought under a new German law that allows the prosecution of foreigners for crimes allegedly committed outside Germany.
A third suspect, Callixte Mbarushimana, who had been living in France, has been extradited to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
‘Fight against impunity’
The UN has hailed the trial as a breakthrough after repeated calls by the Security Council to bring FDLR commanders living abroad to justice.
“This cooperative burden-sharing in prosecuting individuals for serious international crimes will greatly advance the fight against impunity,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in January.
Troublesome neighbours
- April-June 1994: Genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda
- June 1994: Paul Kagame’s Tutsi rebels take power in Rwanda, Hutus flee into Zaire (DR Congo)
- Rwanda’s army enters eastern Zaire to pursue Hutu fighters
- 1997: Laurent Kabila’s AFDL, backed by Rwanda, takes power in Kinshasa
“Legal action against FDLR leaders also reinforces efforts to demobilise and repatriate FDLR fighters, which would significantly contribute to stabilising the eastern DRC.”
Mr Murwanashyaka, 47, has lived in Germany for 20 years, having studied in the western city of Bonn before being offered asylum and settling in Mannheim in the southwest. He is married to a German woman.
Mr Musoni, 49, has lived in Germany since 1994, and has been Mr Murwanashyaka’s deputy since 2004.
The FDLR was established by men accused of taking part in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 who later set up in DRC.
It is now one of the most powerful rebel forces operating in eastern DR Congo, where it is believed to make millions of dollars a year by controlling mines rich in gold and other minerals and extorting money from local people.
An unusual group, the stated aim of the ethnic Hutu rebels is to overthrow the ethnic Tutsi-dominated government in the Rwandan capital Kigali, says the BBC’s International Development correspondent, Mark Doyle.
But in practice the rebels have only rarely infiltrated Rwanda since the Hutu army that organised the 1994 genocide of Tutsis was defeated and chased into DRC.
The Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front came to power in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, when many FDLR members fled across the border, sparking years of unrest in the region.
The FDLR’s top leadership was based in Germany and France but maintained control in DRC through an organised hierarchy of military officers and men.
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said earlier this year that the prosecution of FDLR leaders “will provide the opportunity to demobilise this armed group”.
A 1998-2003 conflict in DR Congo is estimated to have caused the deaths of five million people.
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Rwanda rebels face German trial