Tharcisse Renzaho

Wednesday (the 16th of June... I'm a little behind!) was just a great day all around and led into a bubbly and beautiful Thursday morning. We had all told our placements we were taking the day off, so when the morning rolled around we slept in, gathered our passports and headed to the ICTR building to watch a trial.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is held here in Arusha. This is where all the trials for people who were found to have been involved with the genocide are held. The trials are all open for public viewing; all you need to present is your passport!

The ICTR is a little village in itself. Not entirely sure what all goes on in there, but there are a lot of interns around Arusha that are there working.

We found one appeal that was underway, each grabbed a set of headphones and took a seat. The appeal was for a man named Tharcisse Renzaho.

Tharcisse was a Rwandan governor who set up roadblocks, supplied the genocidaires with rifles, fired government officials who opposed the genocide and ordered the murder of the journalist Andre Kameya. He was sentenced to life in prison in June 2009 and we saw the appeal to this decision. Throughout the appeal they mentioned how he had instigated the invasion of Hôtel Des Milles Collines; where we had stayed not even a week prior. To hear the names of places is one thing, but to have been there, know what they're talking about and be able to create the proper mental image is another completely. I really wonder how someone is able to defend a man like him, and how he has already been acquitted of several of his crimes. I guess you do what you gotta do to get the job done.

After the trial, we had lunch at our favorite café and Cassie and I booked our tickets to Zanzibar! We were scheduled to leave the next Thursday.