Former Rwandan intelligence chief pleads not guilty in UN war crimes court

A former Rwandan intelligence chief who was caught recently after being on the run for nine years entered a plea of not guilty today as he made his first appearance in front of the United Nations tribunal which indicted him for his role in the country’s 1994 genocide.

The start date of the trial of Idelphonse Nizeyimana, a former second in command for intelligence and military operations at an officers’ school, will be announced later by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which is based in Arusha, Tanzania.

Mr. Nizeyimana faces five counts of genocide or complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity for his actions during the genocide, when an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed by Hutu militants, mainly by machete, during a period of less than 100 days.

His alleged crimes include ordering the execution of former Rwandan Queen Rosalie Gicanda, a symbolic figure for all Tutsis.

Mr. Nizeyimana, through the chain of command, is alleged to have exercised authority over soldiers and personnel and was perceived as a member of the elite inner circle (Akazu) of the late President Juvenal Habyarimana.

He was arrested in Kampala, Uganda, on 5 October and was transferred to the UN Detention Facility in Arusha the following day.