RWANDA: 'THERE WAS NO GENOCIDE' SEMANZA CLAIMS

Genocide suspect Laurent Semanza has told judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that he believes there was no genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Semanza has been testifying in his own defense since 13 February.

"There was no genocide in my commune. In fact there was no genocide in
Rwanda in general," Semanza claimed.

Semanza, 57, is a former mayor of Bicumbi commune in Kigali Rural Province.
He has denied 14 counts of genocide and crimes against humanity including
rape and persecution. He was Bicumbi mayor from 1969 to 1993.

The prosecution alleges that as early as 1991, Semanza aided and
participated in the distribution of weapons to militiamen and in the
training of the 'Interahamwe,' the militia wing of the Movement of the
Republic for National Development (MRND). The prosecution alleges that
Semanza participated in these activities up to 1994.

Under cross-examination by prosecution attorney Chile Eboe-Osuji of
Nigeria/Canada, Semanza testified that there was no genocide as such, "only
massacres" of both ethnic Hutu and ethnic Tutsi. More than 800,000 Tutsi and
politically moderate Hutu were killed during the April-June 1994 genocide.

"If you were not in Rwanda [between April and June 1994] how do you know
there was no genocide?" Eboe-Osuji asked Semanza. He responded that he
learned that there was no genocide through the books he read and from what
he heard from Rwandans who met him while he was in exile. Semanza was
arrested in Cameroon in 1996.

According to the prosecution, Semanza organized and executed massacres of
thousands of people at the Musha Church, Gikoro commune, between 9 and 13
April 1994. People had sought refuge in the church. Semanza is also accused
of personally taking part in the killings. Attorneys Charles Taku of
Cameroon/United States and Sadikou Alao of Benin, lead and co-counsel for
Semanza, raised objections several times during the cross-examination. They
accused Eboe-Osuji of subjecting Semanza to "psychological pressure."

At one point, Alao claimed that the Kinyarwanda language translation was
incomplete and asked Eboe-Osuji to repeat the question. However, the
prosecutor declined to do so and challenged the defense attorney to give the
specific Kinyarwanda words that were not properly translated. "The defense
is giving all sorts of excuses so that we ask the question again to give the
witness a chance to make up his mind," Eboe-Osuji alleged.

Eboe-Osuji had asked Semanza if he was suggesting that there was no genocide
of the Tutsi. Semanza then responded that there was no genocide in Rwanda.

Judge Yakov Ostrovsky of Russia (presiding) asked the interpreter to repeat
the question and ruled that the translation was indeed complete.

Semanza is the 26th and last defense witness in the trial, which began on 16
October 1996. He is expected to conclude his testimony today, marking the
end of presentation of witnesses in the trial. The prosecution and the
defense are scheduled to make closing arguments in May.

The trial is held before Trial Chamber III of the ICTR, comprising Judges
Yakov Ostrovsky of Russia (presiding), Lloyd George Williams of St. Kitts
and Nevis and Pavel Dolenc of Slovenia.