Rwandan rebels on trial in Germany for Congo war crimes

Rwandan rebels on trial in Germany for Congo war crimes

2011-05-04 21:54:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

STUTTGART, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- The trial of two Rwandan rebel leaders accused of war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo opened in Germany on Wednesday, the DPA news agency reported.

Ignace Murwanashyaka, president of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and his deputy Straton Musoni, were arrested in November 2009 in Germany, where they have lived for several years. Federal prosecutors allege that both men masterminded acts of murder, torture and rape by giving orders to militias in Congo, where the FDLR is based.

The prosecution says fighters under their command killed more than 200 people.

Murwanashyaka, 47, and Musoni, 50, allegedly carried out these acts from their bases in southern Germany, using laptops and mobile phones. They are charged with 26 counts of crimes against humanity and 39 of war crimes.

DPA reported that the trial was halted minutes after it opened, as the defense filed a complaint about the composition of the prosecution.

Another exiled Rwandan rebel leader was extradited from France to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to face trial over war crimes and crimes against humanity in January. Callixte Mbarushimana, a commander of the Rwandan FDLR rebel force, was arrested in October 2010 by French authorities after the ICC issued a warrant over war crimes including murders, rapes and tortures that took place in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009.

The FDLR consists largely of ethnic Hutus who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide of Tutsis.

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