The trial of former Congolese renegadearmy General Laurent Nkunda is expected to begin today (Friday) in the Rwandaborder town of Gisenyi near the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Politicalobservers have questioned the rationale behind Kigali's decision to prosecutethe former rebel leader whose insurgency was mainly within the DRC. Kigalicaptured Nkunda early this year after he crossed the border into Rwanda while attempting to resist arrest by a jointRwandan-Congolese military force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ButKigali has so far refused Kinshasa's request to extradite Nkunda so that he maystand trial in the DRC.
Jack Kahora is the VOA correspondent in DRC who will beattending Friday's trial. He tells reporter Peter Clottey that there aresuspicions surrounding Kigali's refusal to hand over the former rebel leaderfor trial in DRC.
"Thatis what we heard from people who are close to him (Nkunda). But also last weekwe had an interview with his wife who said that on the 17 of April2009 her husband would be going on trial, and some sources confirmed thissaying at eight o clock in the morning the trial will take place at thetribunal of Gisenye, that is the neighboring town of Goma," Kahora pointed out.
He said the trial of the former Congolese rebelleader in Rwanda is controversial.
"Ithink that Rwanda was trying to make a file on him and on his case in Rwandathat is why they have to put him on trial before he is sent to the DRCauthorities. Maybe that is why they are organizing this trial, but I don'tthink it would be appropriate to put him on trial in a country where he did notcommit any crime," he said.
Kahora said Kinshasa has so far been quiet about Friday's trial of theformer rebel leader.
"The government ofDRC hasn't made anycomment on this, apart from the last meetings of the ministers in which theyannounced that they are in good contact with Rwanda authorities, and that theextradition of Nkunda is expected as soon as possible. We don't know it is inthis process that Rwanda is organizing this trial so that he can be extraditedto the DRC," Kahora pointed out.
He said someCongolese are wondering why Kigali is conducting the trial instead of Kinshasa.
"What we areexpecting is to hear first why Rwanda has to organize such a trial since weknow that he didn't commit anything wrong on Rwanda side. What is the purposeof such a trial in a country on which Nkunda didn't commit any crime? This iswhat we want to learn more from today's trial being organized by Rwanda," hesaid.
Kahora saidFriday's trial presents an opportunity for members in the media to ascertainNkunda's response to the charges that would be leveled against him.
"It is also anopportunity for us journalists because as you know since he (Nkunda) wasarrested on the 23 of January up to now, no journalist has gottenthe opportunity to hear from him or speak with him, and also no member of hisfamily has been allowed to visit him or talk to him. So, it will be a greatopportunity for us to see how he is and how is going to explain himself aboutthe charges against him today," Kahora noted.
Some Congolese sayRwanda detained Laurent Nkunda apparently as part of an agreement with Congothat opened the way for thousands of Rwandan soldiers to cross the border in ajoint operation to hunt down Rwandan Hutu militia.
Congolese political Analysts say Rwandawas under intense international pressure to use its influence over the Tutsirebellion to end the crisis. At the same time, Rwanda and an alleged clique ofrebel commanders had grown disenchanted with Nkunda, who they increasinglyregarded as a flippant, authoritarian megalomaniac who allegedly embezzledmoney from rebel coffers.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant forNkunda after he led his Tutsi National Congress for the Defense of the People(CNDP) rebel group and committed various atrocities in Congo's restive NorthKivu province and surrounding areas. The ICC accused him of war crimes in the townof Bukavu, in the eastern province of Sud-Kivu, which his forces captured inJune 2004
Nkunda was firstbelieved to have first fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which tookcontrol of Rwanda in 1994, ending the genocide there. In 1998, he reportedlybecame a senior officer in the Rwandan-backed Rally for CongoleseDemocracy-Goma (RCD), the main rebel group which controlled most of eastern DRCduring the five-year civil war. Nkunda was accused of committing atrocities in2002 as an RCD commander in the town of Kisangani and as a result has beenreferred to as the "Butcher of Kisangani".