The second "Rwandan" trial that opened in Brussels on 9 May failed to attract the crowd of impassioned spectators who had gathered for the judgement of the Butare Four in 2001. This time, two small-time businessmen appeared in the dock, a successful beer wholesaler and his half-brother, the patron of a street bar and local bus company. Both are accused of actively participating in the execution of the genocide in the prefecture of Kibungo.
When examining magistrate Damien Vandermeersch opened the Kibungo file in March 1995, he was not initially interested in the two men in the dock. The latter were only the subject of investigations after they arrived in Belgium in early 2000. Investigators were chasing former colonel Pierre-Célestin Rwagafilita, thought to be a member of the Akazu or elite inner circle of President Habyarimana, Sylvain Mutabaruka, a deputy from the MRND expresidential party and the local leader of the Internahamwe militia, Emmanuel Habimana, alias Cyasa. Although the latter has been arrested and sentenced to death in Rwanda, the other two, who are suspected of planning the massacres that eliminated 90% of Tutsis in the prefecture, have not been tried. Rwagafilita is thought to have died in Cameroon in June 1995 and Mutabaruka, who is the object of an international arrest warrant, is still on the run. Despite the heavy killings that took place in a short space of time, the Kibungo events have never been the focus of a major trial. To remedy this, and for want of prosecuting the most notorious suspects, Belgium is trying two local characters, Etienne Nzabonimana and Samuel Ndashyikirwa (see inset).

At times, the president of the criminal court, Karin Gérard, who examined the defendants over the first two days of the trial, appeared a little lost, flitting from the make of different cars to political labels, and coming up against vigorous denials from the two Rwandans. Nzabonimana claimed that he remained holed up in his residence during the events, had "seen or heard nothing" and was the victim of a slur campaign organised by people back at home with an eye on his property. His half-brother Ndashyikirwa, who was living under a false name at the time of his arrest, took a more subtle approach, portraying himself as the "saver of Tutsis" - he allegedly sheltered three of them - and claiming that he had attended the meetings to "try and put a stop to the massacres" rather than to organise them.

"Why did you not tell the investigators of your role as mediator during the killings right from the start?" asked the president. "I was afraid of telling them what I knew" explained the defendant. "Your name and that of Mr Nzabonimana appear on the list of genocide suspects drawn up by the Rwandan authorities," continued the judge. "I have just found out," replied the businessman. "I should have been on the list of neutral Hutu moderates" said Ndashyikirwa, who is nevertheless suspected of being a one-time member of the CDR, the most extreme political party before the genocide. He went on to list members of his family who were "executed" by soldiers of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during and after the taking of the Kibungo prefecture, a subject on which his lawyers will be building his defence.
On day two, Vandermeersch described the context of his investigations for the judges. Deploying a well-worn eloquence, he typified to perfection his role as "humble examining judge" investigating in Rwanda. In a repeat performance of his intervention in the Butare Four case, the judge clearly convinced the jury with his performance. However, a murmur of disapproval echoed in the courtroom, which was occupied mostly by Rwandan complainants, when he concluded that "planners were perhaps overwhelmed by the scale of what they had put in train." He quickly added that "the population's adherence to this does not exclude prior organisation."

"During the genocide, being rich did not exempt them from having to show approval of the killings"

French professor André Guichaoua then took the stand, informing the court about the financial contributions that businessmen increasingly made to political groups after the installation of the multi-party system in 1992. A lawyer for the plaintiffs questioned him on the various figures "of national importance" that the defendant Nzabonimana had come into contact with. "Colonel Rwagafilita could make or break careers in the Kibungo prefecture," said the expert. Although he admitted that he did not actually know the accused, the expert created a picture of the climate at the time. "Any reasonable businessman would have had to reveal his political colours in order to cover himself. During the genocide, being rich did not exempt them from having to show approval of the killings." The defendants' lawyers asked whether it was fair to focus on the genocide of the Tutsis to the detriment of Hutu victims. "Don't expect me to launch into a debate on the double genocide theory" responded Guichaoua, adding "certain Hutus paid dearly for their non-participation in the massacres".
On 12 May, Alison Desforges took her turn as expert witness. The American historian's brilliant three-hour performance was frequently interpolated by a highly active jury. She too had never heard of the defendants, but described with precision the "dynamic" context, referring once again to Colonel Rwagafilita. The defence made a fresh attempt at drawing the expert into the subject of the atrocities committed by the RPF.

The debates became more heated in the afternoon. Counsel Gilet, for the plaintiffs, objected to the revisionist logic (without using the actual term) employed by the defence. He received a rhetorical reply: "If we get the wrong convict, we get the wrong reconciliation." The tension mounted as the first defence witness, lieutenant-colonel Balthazar Ndengeyinka, took the stand. The top-ranking officer, exiled in Switzerland since 2003 after being accused of "divisionism" by the Rwandan government - despite having joined the Rwandan Patriotic Army in 1995 - strode brusquely into courtroom looking decidedly uneasy. He said he had known Nzabonimana in 1990, when in post at a military camp in Kibungo. A little vaguely, he told the court that the accused had enjoyed "an excellent reputation in the region". The president then asked him to describe his own function during the genocide. As a technical advisor to the defence ministry, he said he had taken part in the crisis committee convened by Colonel Théoneste Bagosora on 6 and 7 April. After that he had commanded the Bugesera front before fleeing to Congo. "Can the witness tell us if the army ever once opposed the massacres?" he was asked. "In Gitarama, I personally convinced the interim government that they would be held accountable for the massacre of Tutsis," said the ex-officer. "The deciders officially stated that they wanted to stop the killings, but they continued."

Mention of the famous crisis committee immediately unleashed a fireball from counsels Hirsch, Walleyn and Gilet, with the presumption that the committee had been involved in the assassination of the Rwandan prime minister and ten Belgian peacekeepers. The witness responded defensively: "It was not the committee that ordered the murders - it was Colonel Bagosora who held all the strings at that time." Michèle Hirsch went even further, blatantly asking why such a high-ranking officer "who clearly participated in the unleashing of the genocide is able to circulate freely in Belgium". With this accusation, as gratuitous as it was historically incorrect, the lawyer successfully turned the first defence witness inside out, ensuring that his appearance had had the worst possible effect on the jury. Sponsors of the Interahamwe

Etienne Nzabonimana, 53, and his half brother Samuel Ndashyikirwa, 43, were arrested in their Belgian homes at the end of 2002 on suspicion of involvement in the massacres carried out in Kibungo prefecture (south-east Rwanda) between 7 and 22 April, 1994, the date of the arrival of the RPF troops. The massacres left an estimated 50,000 dead, mostly Tutsis. The men are charged with "crimes of international humanitarian law and assassination". Nzabonimana is suspected of participating as an MRND member in meetings to prepare the genocide, of forging close links with influential members of Hutu Power in the region, and of taking part in the recruitment of the Interahamwe leaders for Kibungo. Aside from handing out grenades and machetes to the killers, several witnesses claim that the accused supplied and at times personally drove the vehicles that transported the militia around the prefecture to massacre civilians. His half-brother is accused of participating in the "organisation and training" of Interahamwe from Kirwa, a village close to Kibungo, before the killings began, and of having directly participated in them.