Singer sentenced 15 years prison for incitement
One of Rwandas most famous singers, Simon Bikindi, was convicted Tuesday (2. Dec. 08) for his direct and public incitement to commit genocide, according to Freemuse.org Thursday.
Charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, based in Arusha, Tanzania, Simon Bikindi was sentenced for his role during the during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which resulted in at least 800.000 dead.
Simon Bikindi, who was also a sports ministry official and founded Rwandas Irindiro Ballet, was arrested seven years ago in the Netherlands.
Although several of Simon Bikindis “hate songs” against Tutsis played a strong role in the genocide, Bikindi was not sentenced for his songs but for a speech he made from a vehicle equipped with a public address system, where he encouraged ethnic Hutus to kill Tutsis.
Prosecutors at the UN-backed tribunal based had called for the singer to be given a life sentence.
Songs composed to disseminate propaganda
In its judgement, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda said:
“Three of Bikindis songs were specifically referred to in the indictment: “Twasezereye”, “Nanga Abahutu” and “Bene Sebahinzi”. The chamber found that all “three songs manipulated the history of Rwanda to extol Hutu solidarity”.
It also found that Bikindi composed Nanga Abahutu and Bene Sebahinzi with the “specific intention to disseminate pro-Hutu ideology and anti-Tutsi propaganda, and thus to encourage ethnic hatred”.
The songs had been composed prior to the genocide and the chamber found that their broadcasting during the genocide had an amplifying effect on the genocide.
However, the chamber stated that it had “not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Bikindi had played any role in these broadcasts or in the dissemination of the three alleged songs in 1994””
“Exterminate the minority!”
It is estimated that 800.000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days.
Bikindi was convicted for a speech he made in June 1994 on the main road between Kivumu and Kayove, in north-western Rwanda.
“Simon Bikindi used a public address system to state that the majority population, the Hutu, should rise up to exterminate the minority, the Tutsi. On his way back, Bikindi used the same system to ask if people had been killing Tutsi, who he referred to as snakes”, the judgement read.
Seven years of court hearings
Simon Bikindi was arrested in The Netherlands on 12 July 2001 and transferred to the Tribunal on 27 March 2002.
The indictment against him was confirmed on 5 July 2001, and a warrant of arrest and transfer was issued. His trial commenced on 18 September 2006. The defence case concluded on 7 November 2007.
A site visit was organised in April 2008, followed by the closing arguments on 26 May 2008.
Sources
The official home page of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda contains more documents on the court case: www.ictr.org
Freemuse – 14 November 2006:
Rwanda:
War crimes trial feared to legitimise new repression of musicians elsewhere
Google News – continously updated:
Search: Simon Bikindi + Rwanda
Related reading on www.freemuse.org
