CPCR – Collectif des parties civiles pour le Rwanda Pour que justice soit faite
February 4 to March 28, 2014 will be held the first sitting against a Rwandan genocide suspect now on French soil trial. Despite the satisfaction of finally almost twenty years after the genocide of the Tutsi, a senior Rwandan officials tried by the French justice , we will continue to regret that it took so long for this first trial takes place. The former captain of the Rwandan army, Pascal Simbikangwa , known for his torturer activities well before the genocide, who participated in massacres in recent years while he was traveling in a wheelchair, will be finally judged. The judges have followed in their order the indictment the prosecution and agreed partial non-places about facts that we would have liked to see be successful , especially with regard to torture , ” prescribed ” and the presence of Simbikangwa on Kesho Hill where more than 1,500 Tutsi were executed , attested by the presence of many witnesses !
The fact is that the trial will take place and it will convince a jury that most members maybe little about the genocide in Rwanda know. A lawsuit is never a foregone conclusion: this is why we will have to fight for Pascal Simbikangwa be convicted of the facts alleged. By filing a complaint against him, the SCRC has not engaged seriously. We have real reason to continue, many witnesses and historians blame him. “Without hatred or revenge,” we want to be recognized individual responsibility.
If Pascal Simbikangwa is the first Rwandan to be accountable to justice, however, is not the oldest complaint and can only denounce the intolerable slowness of the French justice for nearly eighteen years. Also denounce the fact that the prosecution never has committed itself to prosecute genocide suspects when he could, he would have. Without the daunting task of civil parties, no one would hear more about the presence of Rwandan genocide suspects on French soil and Simbikangwa trial would never take place. However, recognize the work and involvement of judges and investigators since the creation of the Paris Court “crimes against humanity pole” and hope that this trial is the first of a long series.
