Jean Kambanda

Jean Kambanda
5thPrime Minister of Rwanda
In office April 9, 1994– July 19, 1994
President	Théodore Sindikubwabo
Preceded by	Agathe Uwilingiyimana
Succeeded by	Faustin Twagiramungu
Personal details
Born	(1955-10-19)October 19, 1955 Huye,Rwanda
Political party	Republican Democratic Movement
Alma mater	National University of Rwanda
Occupation	Politician,banker, and formerprime minister
Criminal status	Imprisoned inMali
Criminal charge	Genocideandcrimes against humanity
Penalty	Life imprisonment
Date apprehended	18 July 1997
Imprisoned at	Koulikoro Prison,Mali

Jean Kambanda(born October 19, 1955) is a Rwandan former politician who served as thePrime Minister of Rwandain thecaretaker governmentfrom the start of the 1994Rwandan genocide.He is the onlyhead of governmentto plead guilty togenocide,in the first group of such convictions since theConvention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocidecame into effect in 1951.

Kambanda holds adegreeincommercial engineeringand began his career as a low-levelUnited Popular BPRbanker, rising as atechnocratto become the chair of the bank. At the time of the April 1994 crisis he was vice president of theButaresection of the oppositionRepublican Democratic Movement(MDR).

He was sworn in as prime minister on April 9, 1994 after the presidentJuvénal Habyarimanaand prime ministerAgathe Uwilingiyimana,were both assassinated. He remained in the post for the hundred days of the genocide until July 19, 1994. After leaving office he fled the country.

Criminal responsibility

Kambanda was arrested inNairobion July 18, 1997, after a seven-week multinational stakeout and transferred to theInternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.The court accused him of distributingsmall armsandammunitioninButareandGitaramawith the knowledge that they would be used to massacre civilians. He was found guilty after pleading guilty, a plea he later rescinded, but which rescission the Court did not accept.

On September 4, 1998, the ICTR condemned Jean Kambanda to life imprisonment for:

• Genocide, and Agreement to commit genocide
• Incitement to genocide
• Aiding and abetting genocide
• Failing in his duty to prevent the genocide which occurred while he was prime minister
• Two counts ofcrimes against humanity

Joy Mukanyange,the Rwandan Ambassador to Tanzania, was the only Rwandan official who attended the sentencing. She thought it was fair that Kambanda received a life sentence and his crimes had been recognized by the international community. She noted that Rwanda was "not looking for revenge".

This verdict was upheld by the ICTR Appeal Chamber on October 19, 2000, and Kambanda is currently jailed in Koulikoro Prison inMali.

Blaming the army

Although Kambanda pleaded guilty after receiving legal counsel, his lawyer argued that the prime minister was a "puppet" of the military, who had dragged him from his bank, after killing the previous prime minister, to legitimize their control of their country. He asked the ICTR for a sentence of two years because he acted "under duress with limited responsibility".

The court concluded that this defense against a charge of genocide was irrelevant.

In 2006 he testified for the defence of ColonelTheoneste Bagosorain the 'Military 1' trial of senior military leaders. That testimony was the former Prime Minister's first and only public testimony on the 1994 events in Rwanda and in which he said that he had never found a plan to commit genocide. The decisions of the ICTR regarding Kambanda have been subject to criticism.

Responsible but not guilty

In his appeal, Kambanda said that his confession had been in error, due to poor or misunderstood counsel. He said that his objective was not to plead guilty but to tell the truth. According to the ICTR appeal:

"Kambanda noted that while he felt politically responsible for what happened, he did not feel guilty at the time and does not feel guilty now."

Legal legacy

As a head of government convicted by an international court, Kambanda is an important figure, with the verdict against him forming a precedent against the legal principle ofState Immunity(which was used to reject an extradition order forAugusto Pinochet,for example).

External links

• The BBC story on Kambanda's testimonyon the organization of the genocide, which forms an important source document forLinda Melvern's bookConspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community(2004) VersoISBN1-85984-588-6
• The ICTR official transcriptof the sentencing phase, including Mr. Jean Kambanda's acknowledgement of his original guilty plea.
• Commentary from the Center for International Human Rightson the Kambanda case, concerned that the former prime minister and his fellow accused were 'ordinary men'. Although admitted crimes of action and inaction are cited, the commentary notes that Kambanda andJean-Paul Akayesu(his fellow accused) were "Pillars of their communities". It concludes:

"Of what are ordinary human beings capable -- be it in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, El Salvador or elsewhere? Who is capable of genocide? And who is not?"

• Judgment and Sentence of Jean Kambanda
• The Sacrifice of Jean Kambandais a detailed account of the Kambanda trial and the politics & jurisprudence of ICTR, written by theCalifornia Western School of Law(2004).

The thesis is that Kambanda's conviction was accelerated to bolster confidence and support of the court within Rwanda. The principal charge against the workings of theInternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwandais that Kambanda's right to counsel was overridden.

Although he was able to select his own choice of lawyer from a screened list, the court's Registrar held the final say. Not only was his attorney chosen by the court that was prosecuting him, the registrar is officially required to select a counsel 'prudently' with regard to their cost, andFrenchandCanadianlawyers were initially excluded from the list (despite these countries supplying the majority of qualified French speakers who have passed the ICTR bar).

Kambanda's decision to defend himself for four months was scarcely recorded in the court's proceedings, and when he opted for counsel, the first act of the counsellor (who is characterized as 'inept') was to sign a confession to the prosecution's case. This analysis concludes that the appeal was strategically flawed, and that the probable reason for the legal "carelessness" was that Kambanda was the face of genocide in Kigali; no more time could be wasted before he was given the court's most severe punishment, without recourse to appeal.

Ultimately, the critique is not on the grounds of justice (Kambanda was certainly guilty), but concern that the court ultimately produced ashow trial,since his appeal may not have been thrown out by the U.S. courts.

• The International War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) pressroom report on the Kambanda appeal- in which, among other things, the reasoning of incompetent representation and the credibility of a mistaken confession are rejected.