1994 - Blood is being shed on the thousands of hills of Rwanda. On 27 April of that year, Jacqueline decides to flee the country, together with her partner Wolfgang Blam and their baby Friedrich. They leave in an ambulance but are stopped by Hutu militia in Mugonero.

By Thijs Bouwknegt and Sophie van Leeuwen, The Hague

Jacqueline doesn't have any ID anymore - she tore it up, which angers the Interahamwe militia. She did it because it said “Tutsi” on it and in 1994 “Tutsi” meant death penalty. The militia decides then to refer the situation to their leader Joseph, the son of a rich businessman in Mugonero. They drive to his shop and on the way there - armed with machetes and clubs - they shout “Tutsis are cockroaches” and “All Tutsis should die”.

Special case
But this is a special case and it leaves Joseph with a problem - Wolfgang is a German doctor and he says that if he dies, this will cause trouble with Germany. First, Joseph decides that Jacqueline has to stay behind. She is insulted, yelled at and humiliated and she is told how they would kill her. Her two-month old son will also be killed, because his mother is a Tutsi.

Eventually, the mayor of Mugonero steps in and the couple is allowed to leave. Today, the couple is still traumatised by the event.

Impassive
Almost seventeen years later, Joseph enters the courtroom in The Hague, carrying two sets of files. He reservedly greets the judges and sits down next to his lawyer. He looks impassively straight ahead. One of the judges asks him if he is the Joseph from Mugonero - “Joseph from the shop”, as people used to call him.

“No, my name is Mpambara”, he says. “Why have the witnesses pointed you out then?” the judge asks him. “Sir, I don’t know”, he replies without even looking at Jacqueline or Wolfgang.

For Joseph, the couple's testimonies concludes his appeal case, which took place over the past three weeks in The Hague, Netherlands.

Criminal case
After wandering around Africa, Joseph arrives at the Dutch airport Schiphol in 1998. A false Ugandan passport in his pocket, he tells the Dutch immigration service how he fled Rwanda fearing revenge by Tutsi-rebels. And that he also fears persecution for having defended his brother at the Rwanda Tribunal.

Mpambara doesn’t get asylum in the Netherlands. In 2009 he’s sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for murdering Tutsis and for torturing, amongst others, Jacqueline. Due to a lack of proof, 5 of the 7 charges against him are dropped, including the massacre at a church and the rape of the 17-year old Tutsi girl Consolata. A decision against which the Dutch prosecutor made an appeal.

Forgiveness
The German doctor and his wife are awarded €680.67 in compensation. On appeal they are now demanding €2042.01. Lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld believes they’ll have a case, because the Dutch judicial system is quite similar to the Rwandan one.

Adrien Harorimana is also in The Hague. He witnessed the rape and murder of his niece Consolata. Joseph was there, he says. But, “I heard that in the Netherlands, one witness means no witness”, he tells the judges. “It gets to me that I was the only one to have witnessed this. That makes me sad.” He asks the judges: “Find someone to prove my story.”

At one point, Wolfgang Blam, who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since the genocide, addresses Joseph directly, in French. “I ask you to please be honest to the victims and to the High Court”, says the German doctor. “I am prepared to help you.”

Case closed
But Mpambara seems unmoved. He’s busy cleaning his table, after he accidently knocked over a glass of water. The judge in charge throws a bag of tissues in his direction. He then begins to talk about his personal situation. He has a young daughter who is still attending school. “She misses her father”, Joseph tries to play on the weakness of the judges. He does see her and her mother regularly.

The Public Prosecutor wants him to be condemned for rape and war crimes. The Blam family is searching for recognition and Adrien wants justice for his niece.

Innocent
Mpambara says he is innocent. He says he wasn't aware people were murdered in Mugonero in 1994. The judges reply that he should have at least noticed something. During the genocide, Joseph's brother, Obed Rizundana, came to visit him. The latter is currently in jail in Benin serving a 25-year sentence.

Within two weeks the judges will hear final pleas and deliver their judgement on June 30th.