{"id":86,"date":"2011-05-02T14:19:16","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T14:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/us-professor-to-testify-in-genocide-suspect-s\/"},"modified":"2011-04-29T10:34:20","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T10:34:20","slug":"us-professor-to-testify-in-genocide-suspect-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/us-professor-to-testify-in-genocide-suspect-s\/","title":{"rendered":"US professor to testify in genocide suspect\u2019s case"},"content":{"rendered":"

A United States Professor Scott Straus, who lectures at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison, would serve as an expert witness in a genocide case involving genocide suspect Lazare<\/span> Kobagaya<\/span>. This is the first genocide to be carried out in US soil. Straus\u2019 extensive knowledge of genocide and African politics has landed him as an expert witness in the trial of Kobagaya<\/span> who is charged with ordering mass murders during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The trial will take place in Kansas, where 84-year-old Kobagaya<\/span> now resides, marking the first criminal prosecution in the United States to require proof of genocide, according to the U.S<\/span>. Justice Department.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Kobagaya<\/span> illegally obtained United States citizenship by lying on his citizenship application, where he denied participating in the genocide.<\/p>\n

The U.S<\/span>. Justice Department alleges Kobagaya<\/span> directed mass burnings<\/span> of Tutsi homes and killings of hundreds of Tutsis<\/span>, in addition to ordering the murder of any Hutu<\/span> women married to Tutsi men.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors are bringing in over 20 Rwandans to serve as witnesses for the case.<\/p>\n

Political Science Associate Professor Straus would not comment on the specifics of the case, but said he expects to testify sometime next week.<\/p>\n

According to the United Human Rights Council, 800,000 people died in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.<\/p>\n

If convicted, Kobagaya<\/span> faces deportation and up to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n

 The octogenarian Rwandan is accused of lying about his role in the 1994 genocide in his home country to secure US citizenship.<\/p>\n

Kobagaya<\/span>, a diminutive man with a graying mustache, on Tuesday this week, walked with a cane into the Wichita courthouse accompanied by a half-dozen family members.<\/p>\n

He listened to the proceedings with the aid of an interpreter, although he introduced himself at the start of jury selection in English, saying : “My name is Lazare<\/span> Kobagaya<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

The case is being heard in a Kansas federal courtroom because Kobagaya<\/span> moved here in 2005 to join family members.<\/p>\n

 But prosecutors allege Kobagaya<\/span> lied on his December 2005 citizenship application by denying he had participated in the genocide and falsifying other aspects of his background.<\/p>\n

 US immigration and citizenships forms routinely ask applicants if they have ever persecuted another person because of their race or social group, and also probe whether the applicant has committed any crime for which they have not been prosecuted.<\/p>\n

 If convicted of lying on his citizenship application, Kobagaya<\/span> faces deportation.<\/p>\n

 Numerous witnesses are being brought to the central state of Kansas from Africa to testify about the events from April through mid-July 1994 when an estimated 800,000 people, most of them Tutsis<\/span>, were killed in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

 “I will tell you, some of the evidence is going to be pretty grim and disturbing,” US District Judge Monti<\/span> Belot<\/span> told potential jurors, adding that several witnesses are “people who actually participated in genocide.”<\/p>\n

 Potential jurors questioned Tuesday said they had little or no knowledge of Rwanda or the events that occurred there nearly two decades ago.<\/p>\n

The indictment says most of those who were killed belonged to the Tutsi ethnic and social group, while most of the killings were carried out by members of the Hutu<\/span> ethnic group.<\/p>\n

 According to the indictment, Kobagaya<\/span> was a wealthy Hutu<\/span> who lived in southern Rwanda. It is alleged that he organized and incited violence against Tutsis<\/span> on several occasions, including ordering Hutu<\/span> to burn Tutsi homes, murder hundreds of Hutu<\/span> who had tried to flee the violence, and kill Tutsi women who had married Hutu<\/span> men.<\/p>\n

Kobagaya\u2019s<\/span> defense attorneys have argued in court papers that their client\u2019s name never turned up in lists of genocide suspects compiled by independent sources in the aftermath of the violence.<\/p>\n

 It was not until he gave a statement on behalf of another Rwandan convicted of genocide by a Finnish court that he was targeted by US investigators, the defense attorneys say.<\/p>\n

 In addition to denying that he participated in genocide, Kobagaya<\/span> told immigration officials that he had lived in the African nation of Burundi from 1993 to 1995, the indictment states.<\/p>\n

 Kobagaya\u2019s<\/span> family declined comment during a break in the proceedings.<\/p>\n

 Two translators are also being used in the courtroom as interpreters for many of the witnesses, just one of many complications that Belot<\/span> said could cause the case to last for eight to 10 weeks.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Government on Wednesday hailed the
\narrest of one the key genocide suspects, currently on trial before Wichita
\n(Kansas) in the United States, saying this is a “landmark in fight against
\nthe culture of impunity” and a clear messages to all “genocidaires<\/span>
\nwho are still hiding in several western nations. ” “Arresting
\nthis key genocide suspect (by U. S. justice) whose hands are stained with the
\nblood of thousands of innocent people is a historic and unforgettable
\nmoment,” said prosecution spokesman Alain Mukuralinda<\/span> Mukuralinda<\/span>.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rwanda has made an extradition request to the U. S. justice, the
\nspokesman said. “We hope that after years and
\nyears, justice will be finally served” Mukuralinda<\/span> told the media in Kigali.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A United States Professor Scott Straus, who lectures at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison, would serve as an expert witness in a genocide case involving genocide suspect Lazare Kobagaya. This is the first genocide to be carried out in US soil. Straus\u2019 extensive knowledge of genocide and African politics has landed him as an expert witness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"byline":[277],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","byline-igihe-com-reporter"],"bylines":[{"id":277,"name":"IGIHE.com Reporter","slug":"igihe-com-reporter","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":277,"name":"IGIHE.com Reporter","slug":"igihe-com-reporter","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}