On 16 November, the Ruhengeri trial court, in Northern Rwanda, cleared a 75-year old woman accused of participating in a massacre of Tutsis in 1991. « The prosecutor has not provided convincing proof of Angéline Nyangoma's participation in the massacre of Tutsis at Kinigi in January 1991. » Justice Gatware was at great pain to pronounce the sentence with solemnity in a packed courtroom. Standing among her co-accused, 75 year old Nyangoma could not hide her joy. A smile illuminated the careworn face of this stocky great-grandmother. « I was always confident that God would acquit me », she confided outside the courtroom to friends who had come to hear the verdict. The septuagenarian's suffering has lasted nearly 4 years. Arrested in April 1997 upon her return from exile in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), she only appeared before the tribunal in April 2001.

Salt and Pepper Hair
She was charged with the most serious and odious of crimes. Indeed, Rukira wa Muhizi, deputy public prosecutor in Ruhengeri, had accused this woman with salt and pepper hair of having instigated a massacre of Tutsis on 26 January 1991 in Kinigi, at the foot of the hill that is the last sanctuary of the mountain gorillas. At the time, a murderous war pitted the regime of President Juvénal Habyarimana against the rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), essentially made up of Tutsi soldiers. The rebels had besieged Ruhengeri and freed the prisoners held in the city's famous « special prison ». The regime's hard-liners claimed that this invasion would not have been possible without the complicity of a fifth column.

A Man Hunt
« Some of the Tutsis from Kinigi must have passed on information to the enemy, » asserted the local authorities in Ruhengeri. A manhunt then ensued under the very eyes of the authorities, who did not lift a finger to stop it. On 17 April 2001, nearly 4 years after her arrest, the public prosecutor told the tribunal that old Nyangoma had participated in the hunt, alongside twenty co-accused. As is so often the case before the Rwandan courts, the accused stood trial without legal representation. Only the most dauntless among them had insisted on their right to have a lawyer. The tribunal accepted their claim and postponed the case to 16 July to give the accused time to find counsel.

May God be my Witness
The trial plodded along to Nyangoma's plea. On 5 and 6 September, the illiterate suspect pleaded her own case. Her halting speech did not discourage her counsel, Anisie Mukamuligo. « She did not kill with her own hands », declared the deputy prosecutor, Rukira wa Muhizi, « but she showed the executioners the house where Rwabukamba and other Tutsis were hiding. They were ordered to come out of the house before being killed with knives. » Taking God as her witness, Nyangoma denied this accusation. « That day, » she countered, « I did not leave my house. I did not see the killers of whom you speak. » Questioned by the tribunal, two of the man-hunters corroborated her version of the facts. « We received no help from her at all. » swore a Mutwa called Basabose and a Hutu called Senturu, after having confessed to participation in the massacre. In light of their confessions, they will avoid life imprisonment, and will be sentenced to only 18 years in jail.

Life for One of Nyangoma's Sons
Despite being acquitted, Nyangoma is not yet at the end of her troubles. First of all, she will have to apply to the authorities or even the courts in order to re-establish her property rights. Indeed, after her arrest, her husband, Murindangabo, tried to rejuvenate himself by marrying an adolescent, who now manages the whole property. « This young woman came to visit me in prison, but I doubt that she will leave my fields happily, » feared the free woman. As for her old husband, he did not even deign to come to the hearings, despite the fact that most of the trial was held at the district office of Kinigi, less than an hour from Muringangabo by foot. Nyangoma's second concern is that her son, Kanyarusisiro, was sentenced to a life term in the same case. Another son, Singizumukiza, was acquitted like his mother. « I will not be like my father, promised Singizumukiza, I will often bring food to my brother. » Prison has tightened their brotherly bonds.