CASE NO.: ICTR-96-10-1 THE PROSECUTOR OF TRIBUNAL AGAINST ELIZAPHAN NTAKIRUTIMANA
GERARD NTAKIRUTIMANA
OBED RUZINDANA
CHARLES SIKUBWABO

INDICTMENT

1. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, pursuant to his authority under Article 17 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ("the Statute of the Tribunal") charges:

ELIZAPHAN NTAKIRUTIMANA
GERARD NTAKIRUTIMANA
OBED RUZINDANA
CHARLES SIKUBWABO

with GENOCIDE, COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE, CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT GENOCIDE, and CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY as set forth below.

2. The present indictment charges persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the Territory of Rwanda during the month of April 1994 at Mugonero Complex in Gishyita commune, Kibuye prefecture, where hundreds of men, women and children were killed and a large number of persons wounded.

3. THE ACCUSED

3.1 Elizaphan Ntakirutimana is believed to have been born in 1924 in Ngoma sector, Gishyita commune, Kibuye prefecture. During the time of the events referred to in this indictment, he was the Pastor of Seventh day Adventist Church in Mugonero.
3.2 Gérard Ntakirutimana is believed to have been born in 1957 in Ngoma sector, Gishyita commune, Kibuye prefecture. During the time of the events referred to in this indictment, he was a physician at Mugonero hospital.
3.3 Obed Ruzindana is believed to have been born in 1959 in Gisovu sector, Gisovu commune, Kibuye prefecture. During the time of the events referred to in this indictment, he was a businessman in Kibuye prefecture.
3.4 Charles Sikubwabo is believed to have been born in the early to mid-1940's in Gishyita sector, Gishyita commune, Kibuye prefecture. During the time of the events referred to in this indictment, he was the Burgomaster of Gishyita commune.

4. A CONCISE STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

4.1 During the events referred to in this indictment, Rwanda was divided into eleven prefectures, one of which was Kibuye. Each Prefecture was governed by a Prefect. The prefectures were further divided into communes, each of which was governed by a Burgomaster. The Burgomaster was the representative of the executive power in the communes and was in charge of the governmental functions within the commune.
4.2 During the events referred to in this indictment, Tutsis were identified as members of an ethnic or racial group.
4.3 On 6 April 1994, the plane transporting President Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda crashed on its approach to Kigali airport, Rwanda. Attacks and murders of civilians began soon thereafter throughout Rwanda.
4.4 During the month of April 1994, a large number of men, women, and children from various places sought shelter from the attacks which were taking place throughout Kibuye prefecture. Many assembled inside Mugonero Complex, which consisted of several buildings, including a church, an infirmary, and a hospital. [hereinafter referred to as "the Complex"]. The majority of these men, women and children were Tutsi and were unarmed.
4.5 Many of those men, women and children who sought refuge in the Complex did so because Elizaphan Ntakirutimana instructed them to go there.
4.6 After the men, women and children gathered in the Complex, Gerard Ntakirutimana and others separated Tutsi individuals from the others. Those who were not Tutsi were allowed to leave the Complex.
4.7 On or about the morning of 16 April 1994, a convoy, consisting of several vehicles followed by a large number of individuals armed with various weapons went to the complex. Individuals in the convoy included, among others, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana, Charles Sikubwabo, members of the National Gendarmerie, communal police, militia and civilians.
4.8 The individuals in the convoy, including Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana, and Charles Sikubwabo, participated in an attack on the men, women and children in the Complex which continued throughout the day.
4.9 The attack resulted in hundred of deaths and a large number of wounded among the men, women, and children who had sought refuge at the Complex.
4.10 During the months following the attack on the Complex, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana, and Charles Sikubwabo searched for and attacked Tutsi survivors and others, killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to them.
4.11 Before the attack on the Complex, Charles Sikubwabo knew or had reason to know that his subordinates, including members of the National Gendarmerie and communal police under his control, were about to participate in the attack on the men, women and children, and did not take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the attack. In addition, after the attack, Charles Sikubwabo did not punish the perpetrators.

5. CHARGES

By their acts in relation to the events referred to above, each of the accused are individually responsible for the crimes alleged below pursuant to Article 6(1) of the Tribunal Statute. In addition or alternatively, Charles Sikubwabo, in his capacity as Burgomaster, is individually responsible as a superior for the acts of his subordinates for the crimes alleged below pursuant to Article 6(3) of the Statute of the Tribunal.

Count 1: Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana and Charles Sikubwabo, during the month of April 1994, in Gishyita commune, Kibuye Prefecture, in the Territory of Rwanda, are responsible for the killing or causing of serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Tutsi population of Rwanda with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic or racial group as such, and have thereby committed GENOCIDE as recognized by Article 2(3)(a) and punishable in reference to Articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal;

Count 2: Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana and Charles Sikubwabo, during the month of April 1994, in Gishyita commune, Kibuye Prefecture, in the Territory of Rwanda, were in complicity in the killing or causing of serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Tutsi population of Rwanda with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic or racial group as such, and have thereby committed COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE as recognized by Article 2(3)(e) and punishable in reference to Articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal;

Count 3: Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana and Charles Sikubwabo, during the month of April 1994, in Gishyita commune, Kibuye Prefecture, in the Territory of Rwanda, did conspire with each other and others, to kill or cause serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Tutsi population of Rwanda with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic or racial group as such, and have thereby committed CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT GENOCIDE as recognized by Article 2(3)(b) and punishable in reference to Articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal;

Count 4: Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana and Charles Sikubwabo, during the month of April 1994, in Gishyita commune, Kibuye Prefecture, in the Territory of Rwanda, are responsible for the murder of civilians, as part of widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on political, ethnic or racial grounds, and have thereby committed a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY as recognized by Article 3(a) and punishable in reference to Articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal;

Count 5: Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana and Charles Sikubwabo, during the month of April 1994, in Gishyita commune, Kibuye Prefecture, in the Territory of Rwanda, are responsible for the extermination of civilians, as part of widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on political, ethnic or racial grounds, and have thereby committed a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY as recognized by Article 3(b) and punishable in reference to Articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal;

Count 6: Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, Gérard Ntakirutimana, Obed Ruzindana and Charles Sikubwabo, during the month of April 1994, in Gishyita commune, Kibuye Prefecture, in the Territory of Rwanda, did commit other inhumane acts, including, but not limited to, the infliction of serious bodily or mental harm on civilians as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on political, ethnic or racial grounds, and have thereby committed a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY as recognized by Article 3(i) and punishable in reference to Articles 22 and 23 of the Statute of the Tribunal; ___________________1996

Arusha, Tanzania For the Prosecutor The Deputy Prosecutor

Source: http://www.ictr.org/