Ferdinand Nahimana
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand Nahimana is a Rwanda
n historian who was convicted of participating in the Rwandan Genocide
.
Nahimana was co-founder of the radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
(RTLM) but not the director, which during the genocide broadcast information and propaganda that helped coordinate the killings and fuel the hatred against the Tutsi
victims.
Ferdinand Nahimana holds a Doctorate in History from the University Paris Diderot. Between 1979 and 2007 he wrote many books, articles, about Rwandan History. In 1993 Nahimana helped create the RTLM radio station.
In April 1994, as the violence erupted in Rwanda after President Juvénal Habyarimana
's death in a plane crash, the French
embassy took Ferdinand Nahimana in, thereby helping him escape to Burundi
. He was later arrested in Cameroon
on 26 March 1996.
This conviction, according to him, "marks the end of a certain right of evidence before international justice". "There was the idea that there was a right of evidence inherited from Common law (legal system mainly used before international courts) the protection barriers have been removed one after another", said Biju Duval, main counsel of Nahimana since 1996.
The Rwandan historian was convicted for not having done anything in order to stop the inflammatory shows of the RTLM after 6 April 1994, as he had, according to the judgment, an authority on the personnel of the radio station. According to the lawyer, "Nahimana was convicted on the weakest point of the prosecutor's thesis. The hierarchical responsibility is not the power of influence", he reminded. According to him, "it must be established within the framework of a chain of command, it must fall under a hierarchy with an effective control".
In addition to Nahimana, two other appellants were convicted by the appeals chamber, which delivered its judgment Wednesday. Jean Bosco Barayagwiza saw his sentenced reduced from 35 to 32 years and the sentence of Hassan Ngeze went from life in prison to 35 years
In past, Nahimana was prosecuted at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
, together with two others involved with the RTLM: Hassan Ngeze
and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza
. Nahimana claimed that he was innocent and denied having editorial control of the RTLM broadcasts during the killings: "I couldn't recognise the RTLM of those days from the one that existed before 6 April. It had been appropriated by radicals, what are now called extremists, whose way of seeing and doing things I did not share".
The "hate media trials" received attention since it was the first time since the Nuremberg trials
that hate speech had been prosecuted as a war crime. On December 3, 2003, Ferdinand Nahimana was sentenced to life imprisonment, guilty of genocide
, conspiracy
to commit genocide, incitement
, directly and publicly, to commit genocide, complicity
in genocide and crimes against humanity
. Hassan Ngeze also got a life sentence, and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Despite the sentences' possible impact on freedom of the press, Reporters Without Borders
welcomed the outcome of the trial.
Ferdinand Nahimana appeal
ed his sentence, and the trial before the Appeals Chamber was opened on 16 January 2007. The Appeals Chamber reversed some of his convictions and reduced his sentence from life imprisonment to 30 years' imprisonment.
In December 2008, he has been transferred from Arusha (Tanzania) to Mali (in West Africa) (see article)
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n historian who was convicted of participating in the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
.
Nahimana was co-founder of the radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role during the April–July 1994 Rwandan Genocide....
(RTLM) but not the director, which during the genocide broadcast information and propaganda that helped coordinate the killings and fuel the hatred against the Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
victims.
Ferdinand Nahimana holds a Doctorate in History from the University Paris Diderot. Between 1979 and 2007 he wrote many books, articles, about Rwandan History. In 1993 Nahimana helped create the RTLM radio station.
In April 1994, as the violence erupted in Rwanda after President Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...
's death in a plane crash, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
embassy took Ferdinand Nahimana in, thereby helping him escape to Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
. He was later arrested in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
on 26 March 1996.
Trial and sentence
Nahimana, founder of the Radio Télévision Libre des Mille collines (RTLM) was convicted for his responsibility as a senior ranking official on the radio starting 6 April 1994, date on which he no longer exerted any role, according to his French lawyer Jean-Marie Biju- Duval. "There is an extraordinary paradox", estimated the lawyer in an interview with the Hirondelle agency.This conviction, according to him, "marks the end of a certain right of evidence before international justice". "There was the idea that there was a right of evidence inherited from Common law (legal system mainly used before international courts) the protection barriers have been removed one after another", said Biju Duval, main counsel of Nahimana since 1996.
The Rwandan historian was convicted for not having done anything in order to stop the inflammatory shows of the RTLM after 6 April 1994, as he had, according to the judgment, an authority on the personnel of the radio station. According to the lawyer, "Nahimana was convicted on the weakest point of the prosecutor's thesis. The hierarchical responsibility is not the power of influence", he reminded. According to him, "it must be established within the framework of a chain of command, it must fall under a hierarchy with an effective control".
In addition to Nahimana, two other appellants were convicted by the appeals chamber, which delivered its judgment Wednesday. Jean Bosco Barayagwiza saw his sentenced reduced from 35 to 32 years and the sentence of Hassan Ngeze went from life in prison to 35 years
In past, Nahimana was prosecuted at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
, together with two others involved with the RTLM: Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze is a Rwandan journalist, best known for publishing the "Hutu Ten Commandments", which fomented anti-Tutsi feeling among Rwandan Hutus prior to the Rwandan Genocide....
and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza
Jean Bosco Barayagwiza
Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza was a Rwandan diplomat and the chairman of the executive committee for the Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines from 1993 and during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide....
. Nahimana claimed that he was innocent and denied having editorial control of the RTLM broadcasts during the killings: "I couldn't recognise the RTLM of those days from the one that existed before 6 April. It had been appropriated by radicals, what are now called extremists, whose way of seeing and doing things I did not share".
The "hate media trials" received attention since it was the first time since the Nuremberg trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
that hate speech had been prosecuted as a war crime. On December 3, 2003, Ferdinand Nahimana was sentenced to life imprisonment, guilty of genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit genocide, incitement
Incitement
In English criminal law, incitement was an anticipatory common law offence and was the act of persuading, encouraging, instigating, pressuring, or threatening so as to cause another to commit a crime....
, directly and publicly, to commit genocide, complicity
Complicity
Complicity is a novel by Scottish author Iain Banks. It was published in 1993.-Plot introduction:Its two main characters are Cameron Colley, a journalist on a Scottish newspaper called The Caledonian, which resembles The Scotsman, and a serial murderer whose identity is a mystery...
in genocide and crimes against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
. Hassan Ngeze also got a life sentence, and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Despite the sentences' possible impact on freedom of the press, Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
welcomed the outcome of the trial.
Ferdinand Nahimana appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
ed his sentence, and the trial before the Appeals Chamber was opened on 16 January 2007. The Appeals Chamber reversed some of his convictions and reduced his sentence from life imprisonment to 30 years' imprisonment.
In December 2008, he has been transferred from Arusha (Tanzania) to Mali (in West Africa) (see article)