Philippe Hategekimana Manier(sited)
The trial of Hategekimana Philippe Manier alias Biguma in appeal at Paris Court of Assizes has continued with new revelations from witnesses who are sharing shocking testimonies.
Biguma was Sergeant Gendarme in the ex-force armee Rwandaise(Ex-FAR) which is responsible of the extermination of the innocent civilians during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda.
In June 2023, he was handed life sentence in jail over genocide crimes committed in and around Nyanza, Southern province. The court found that he was directly involved in the killings of the mass, and he was leading the interahamwe militia in attack of the Tutsi. He was also found guilty of mounting roadblocks and killing Narcisse Nyagasaza who was Bourgmester of Ntyazo Commune.
New witnesses are now being heard in appeal, and they are bringing new evidences to the court.
A former workmate of Biguma said that the Genocide found her on maternity leave, while her husband continued to serve also as gendarme, driver of Biguma.
“At first Biguma was not harmful, but he changed when a new Interahamwe came to Nyanza to preside over the killing of the Tutsi in Nyanza,” said the witness.
She recalls that, Rupangu came on a special mission to eliminate the Tutsi. He would have found the gendarme in a meeting that intended to study a strategy to prevent the killings by Interahamwe and gave a new order
“When he came, he asked the Gendarme why they were being a hindrance of the Interahamwe killing,” the witness recalls.
Ever since, the witness said, Biguma followed in the footsteps of Rupangu and on April 22, 1994, the former sent a team of Interahamwe to find Nyagasaza who was struggling to cross to Burundi as the Genocide was intensifying.
“They brought Nyagasaza for Biguma, and upon arrival, the latter went to find a hummer to kill the local leader. As he was away, Nyagasaza pleaded the driver who was actually my husband-also a gendarme- to shoot him. He refused but another gendarme did it,” the witness recalled.
In the following days, the driver of Biguma pleaded the commandant of Nyanza to change his appointment because he had been having issues with Biguma who wanted him to be part of the killings.
“I beg not to go with Biguma anymore because we shall risk to kill each other,” the witness quotes the driver who was her husband.
On Friday, November 11, when asked by court what he had to say about this testimony, Biguma dismissed everything while saying that the witness was no longer a Gendarme. The witness brought evidences to prove Biguma wrong.
After supervising the massacres and conducting killings in Nyanza, according to the witness, Biguma sought a transfer to Kigali in Mai 1994.
“The objective was for him to find an opportunity to go hide what he had stolen from the Tutsi homes,” the witness said.
