Pascal Simbikangwa trial : Alain GAUTHIER ‘s hearing. President of the CPCR

Pascal  Simbikangwa  trial : Alain GAUTHIER ‘s hearing. President of the CPCR

 

Mr President,Ladies and Glentlemen of the court,ladies and Glentlemen the jurors.

 

“The print of a genocide: it is not fury,it is silence.”  La fantaisie des Dieux,   BD de Patrick de Saint –Exupéry et Hippolyte , Avril  1994.

Here I stand infront of this court of justice,both as a family, victim of the genocide, and President of the CPCR : The collective of civil plaintiffs for Rwanda . An association which has legal standing to file civil cases against fugitives. A complaint was brought against Pascal  Simbikangwa in February 2009 , when he was living in Mayotte and pointed out to us several months before.

The aim of our association is to bring suspects of genocide,living in France or  on the French soil, in front of a court of justice. This is probably the only point of agreement I have with Mr Simbikangwa : without the complaint procedure,there would not have been any possible trial in a criminal court. By drawing lots, you have been designated by the court of justice and, as a consequence , been through five intense and hard weeks. I do apologize for leading you through this ordeal.

Those five weeks have been devastating for us, but this has been our daily lot since 20 years. Those 5 weeks were probably just the same for you/ devastating . Being plunged into the horror of a genocide leaves traces you won’t get rid of. Your life will never be the same . There will be a time before and a time after February 2014. As jurors, you have a very high responsibility, and the decision you are going to make,in a few days, might be the most important in your life.

During the past 5 weeks, I must confess that I  have been astonished, somewhat shocked, by what happened in the courtroom. I do understand that  a triall like this one, is an opened theatre where everyone has a part to play , but, disgraceful words were delivered by the defense attorneys . MR Gillet is asked if “He had a Rwandan girlfriend” (meaning Tutsi)…Mrs Bourgeot joined the ranks of the well  known and sinister review “kangura”…I felt uneasy and irritated in front of the constant smiles, whispers,private laughters,on the defense side. Every single defendant has his own rights and it is the honor of the court of justice to respect them,but not at all costs.Maitre Epstein’s behavior was shocking, trying to destabilize witnesses,almost constantly. M r Bruno Sturlese,prosecuting attorney ,was shocked ,as well. He had to put an end to the false questions, bearing the answer. So many questions with meaningless answers, aiming at confusing witnesses and jurors. So many strategies,baffling me, even though they are taught in law schools.

And what about Mr SIMB IKANGWA’s behavior ,denying everything he was blamed for , accusing witnesses of lying, of having a ready learnt speech : a very curious line of defence. And what about the personal attacks he launched on us, but which won’t fool you about our true self and our real motivations.

I  wish   to bring you some clarifications,for, what you are asked for  is highly complicated. You will have to take into account all the problems linked with : Culture- translation- witnesses submitted to so many hearings,  bringing, as a result,   contradictory  facts. This genocide took place very far from France, 20 years ago, in a country you never heard of, before. Other problems arise from : the memory,not always accurate / many witnesses are gone  (killers or survivors) , some are tired of testifying, some others , victims, can’t denounce the killers in their own family.  / AND to finish with, you are facing MR Simbikangwa, whose denial becomes a system, denying anay  idea of genocide. Revisionist  ideas being totally part of a genocide.

May I give you now some chronological events.   A few features ,which are, I think , important to understand the commitment which is mine.

When I was 13, a secondary schoolboy, a priest from the “pères blancs”  society, missionaries in Africa, comes to show us a film about “martyrs” in Ouganda. At the end of the film, I hand the priest a piece of paper “I want to be one of you!”

In 1970 / 1972 I enroll the “faculté de theologie catholique de Strasbourg” within the “peres blancs” society, and, instead of a military service, I choose a two years cooperation.Fate leads me to a secondary school in the south of Rwanda,in Save,diocese of Butare, where I teach French. During this stay, I meet an old teacher,who teaches Latin  : A Hutu,royalist,MR NAYIGZIKI, with whom I learn the history of the country. I also come across Dafroza . Again, Fate let us meet  2 years after my departure from Rwanda.In 1977, we decide to get married, “for the better and the worse”. During 15 years, we live an ordinary life , simple citizens with 3 children. Dafroza works as an engineer in chemistry, and I am a French teacher, later on, I become head of a secondary school.

In 1990,1^ST  October , the FPR attack disturbs me,for, I fear violences on the Tutsi “inside” the country. Early in October , numerous Tutsi are arrested, and among them, family members.Beginning of the year1993 :  Mr Jean Carbonare is on TV, warning us that what is happening  in Rwanda is highly dramatic. I write a letter to President Mitterand, asking him to mediate with the Rwandan President. T he Arusha agreement, signed in 1993 3^rd August, let us think that a genocide will not take place, but the Rwandan president’s hesitations  are not good news. In February 1994, Dafroza goes to Kigali to visit her mother. The dramatic situation leads her to shorten her stay. A second letter to the  French President : NO ANSWER  . And, in the evening, on April 6: Our life collapses. Coming back from Dar El Salam where he , at last, agreed to establish the agreements signed a year ago, President Habyarimana ‘ s plane is shot.

As early as April 8 , in my office at College Jeane d’Arc,where I now, am  an headmaster, I am told that Dafroza’s mother has been killed , whereas she was looking for shelter, as well as other members of the family, in the parish Of the Nyamirambo area. A parish called “ Charles Luanga”, in memory of one of the martyrs of Ouganda, a story I told you about, at the beginning of my report.Coming back home, I have to tell Dafroza the dreadful news : the Death of her mother. Our son, 11 years old, says those bewildering words : “ Mummy, I will revenge You”

During  3 months , we live in an unsettling nightmare but we stay active : Petitions- sleepless nights-nightcalls from survivors, hidden in “hotel des mille collines” in Kigali – messages in various medias- demonstration. Thank you to those who helped us to stay alive during those  3 months, thank you Friends, many thanks to ecole Jeanne d’ARC   which allowed us to call Rwanda… SO OFTEN!

August 15, we are happy to welcome 2 young orphans :Pauline and Jean Paul, found in Burundi. They will stay with us for a year,until we hear,one day, that their father escaped the genocide.

In the summer 1996, we decide to go back to Rwanda : A SHOCK- EMPTINESS-FAMILY DEVASTATED- FRIENDS GONE FOREVER- HOUSES DESTROYED.

IDuring the holiday, in 1997, we gather our first reports about  Wenceslas Munyeshyoka, a priest.There is a complaint against him since 1995. One of Dafroza’s cousin, a survivor from the church “la sainte famille” with 2 of her children, allows us to meet other survivors. We give our investigations to the lawyer in charge of the genocide files.

And then, in spring 2001, there will be the first trial in the criminal court in Brussels.A trial called “the trial of the four from Butare” which will be a landmark in our action and commitment. At the end of the trial,one of our friend who is a witness : Gasama Ndoba asks us : and what about you? What do you do in France ? This will be the trigger. We decide to gather friends and create the CPCR: the collective of civil plaintiffs for Rwanda.

As the prosecutor has always been reluctant to investigate on the suspects of genocide living on the French territory, we start our crusade and decide to go to Rwanda to gather information and testimonies. At first, we focus on existing filed, then we investigate on new cases.

Within 12 years, we have brought and settled 19 new complaints which are now in the hands of a section specialized in crimes of genocide, created in the “TGI”, in Paris ,in 2012. We don’t have much money but in spite of that, we carry on our investigations whenever a new case arises, gathering information in Kinyarwanda most of the time. The translation is Dafroza’s task ,then we hand them to our lawyers who write the complaints down. NOW, I  want to pay a vibrant homage to our children who let us get into such an adventure….TIME EATER… Without their support, we could not have possibly launched into this fight for Justice.

In June 2004, we are asked to go to Kigali : a common grave has been identified in the yard of the Nyamirambo parish. We spend a whole week ,paying an ultimate homage to Dafroza’s mother and other victims discovered in the grave.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jurors, a genocide is not a natural disaster,it is not an earthquake sweeping away hundreds of thousand victims.

A genocide ,it is not even a million people who died, anonymously, piled up in the streets, carried away in trucks, and thrown in common graves.

A genocide, it is a mother, a brother, a sister, a cousin, old people, a baby dying little by little in the latrines where he has been thrown , young boys and girls starting enjoying  Life.In a genocide, there are only innocent victims, whose only wish was : TO LIVE.

A genocide, it is even lives taken in a mother’s womb, all despicably executed

, thoroughly, meticulously. And even if ,in this trial, all the dead people are unidentified, all our deads had names, wanted to live and grow old in peace, be born in peace, grow up in peace.

If Mr Simbikangwa is in front of you ,today, it is because investigating judges thought that there were  enough charges about him and handed him to the criminal court. The CPCR originally filed a lawsuit, but judges have written and published the order of impeachment. Here, we pay homage to Mr Brisset Foucault, prosecutor in Mayotte in 2009, who didn’t hesitate to keep Mr Simbikangwa in jail when he knew that a complaint had been lodged against him.It is in 2006 that we hear that P SIMBIKANGWA lives in Mayotte, as  a fugitive, where he keeps on harassing survivors. One of them ,arriving in Paris informs us of his presence. Our work starts and this trial is its result. If? Today, our fight is known and talked about in the medias, it wasn’t always the case; for years, we worked in a complete anonymous way. The interest developed  by the medias now, shows that our engagement is a very serious matter and that we lead this fight without “hatred and vengeance”, and yet,  some people are against it.

 

Our fight often induces aggressive responses from well known people such as Pierre PEAN, who goes on pouring his poison in books and articles in the newspapers. His lies and difamations encourage other people to spit their venum as well : threats, infamous messages… but nothing will turn us away from what we have been doing for more than 15 years ; The Tutsi Genocide is integral part of our Life.

Mr Simbikangwa , I turn to you know. During those 5 weeks, I dreamed that, one day, a crack would break your shield, dreamed that a tear would roll down your face, dreamed that you would lower your guard. If this trial aims at giving the victims their honor back , if it aims at helping the families to mourn their victims, never forget ,but just go on , thinking it is still worth living, this trial may have been an opportunity, for you, to  regain the piece of humanity that you have lost. This trial has given you a chance, but you have chosen not to take it. Mr Simbikangwa , YOU and ONLY  YOU , know what you have done.

Mr Simbikangwa , we have 2 things in common . As you do, I mention the religious values and God’s commandments :

“Thou shalt not kill”                “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”            but…. We do not get the same requirements out of them.

Both of us like literature, great  poets and French novelists . Then, as you like Victor HUGO ,let me bring you to mind the poem  “la conscience” “ Consciousness” which tells the story of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’s children. Cain ,a farmer, is jealous of his brother, Abel, a cattlefarmer. Having commited his crime, he tries to flee from the eye of his consciousness. He has a tent built, then highwalls,throws arrows  to the stars…as the eye is still there, he decides to have a tomb built where he will be locked….. AND  I leave you the last verses of the poem so that you can meditate them :

 

“on fit donc une fosse et Cain dit “C’est bien”

Puis il descendit seul sous cette voute sombre.

Quand il se fut assis sur sa chaise dans l’ombre

Et qu’on eut sur son front fermé le souterrain,

L’œil était dans la tombe et regardait Cain. »

Thank you Mr President ,Ladies and Gentlemen  of the court, Ladies and Gentlemen the jurors.