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Rwandan hate singer to come before UN war crimes tribunal

Rwandan hate singer to come before UN war crimes tribunal

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A 48-year old man accused of performing songs that incited the Hutu Interahamwe militia to kill Tutsis in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has been handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the United Nations court announced today.

Simon Bikindi, a well-known Rwandan composer and singer of popular music, was transferred from the Netherlands to the Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, yesterday to answer six charges, including conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, and direct and public incitement to commit genocide. According to the ICTR, he is being held at the UN's Arusha Detention Facility.

He is alleged to have composed and performed songs which incited genocide and crimes against humanity, of planning and instigating the killing of Tutsis, and of recruiting and training the Interahamwe militia - a militant group responsible for many of the atrocities committed in Rwanda in mid-1994.

Mr. Bikindi was arrested in Leiden by Dutch authorities, following a request from the ICTR. "The Accused will shortly make his initial appearance before a Judge of the Tribunal to answer the charges against him," the court said in a statement.