He is accused of killing ethnic Tutsi's and raping four women during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, but stands trial in The Hague, the Netherlands. The Hague District Court on Monday starts hearings in the case against Rwandese Joseph Mpambara.

Joseph Mpambara was arrested by the Dutch authorities in Rotterdam on 7 August 2006, following an arrest warrant for genocide. One year later however, the Hague District Court charged him with war crimes because Dutch criminal law does not provide jurisdiction for genocide when there are no Dutch victims.

Killing Tutsi's
Born in 1968, Joseph Mpambara was living in the Netherlands under a refugee status before he was arrested. After the 1994 genocide he fled Rwanda where he allegedly was a member of the notorious Interahamwe, a militia of extremist ethnic Hutu's who spearheaded the 100-day bloodbath, killing around 800,000 Tutsi's and moderate Hutu's. In this function, he is suspected of having participated in the massacre of Tutsis during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

It is alleged that Joseph Mpambara played a role in several attacks on Tutsis in Mugonero, in the Kibuye region in western Rwanda. Notably he is believed to have ordered the killing of wounded Tutsis transported by an ambulance when it stopped at a check-point. He is also accused of killing Tutsi's who fled to the complex of the Seventh-Day Adventists in Mugonero and the rape of four, and subsequent killing of three women.

The trial against Mpabara, which is expected to last until 24 November 2008, starts with hearings at the Paleis van Justitie this week. In the first three weeks the evidence will be presented and victims will be heard. These victims are expected to present requests for reparation.

No genocide charges
Initially all the alleged crimes, which were primarily charged as war-crimes and torture, were also charged as genocide. However, on 24 July 2007 the District Court found that the Netherlands lacked jurisdiction to charge the crimes as genocide. The Court concluded that a Dutch criminal court has neither direct nor indirect jurisdiction with respect to the charge of the Mpambara's involvement in genocide, because there were no Dutch victims.

This decision not to try Mpambara for genocide had an impact on the referral of the case of Michel Bagaragaza, from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania to the Netherlands. The tribunal revoked the referral and Bagaragaza's was transferred back to Arusha from The Hague on 20 May 2008.

Mpambara's brother
Joseph Mpambara is the brother of Obed Ruzindana, an important businessman who was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by the ICTR in 2001 for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Ruzindana played a preponderant role in the systematic extermination of the Tutsis who had sought refuge in the Bisesero region. The massacres in the Bisesero region went on for several months, from April to June 1994, and resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. He is serving his time in a prison in Mali.