Witness calls Tumba sector office ‘a transit to death’ in Dr. Munyemana’s trial
Different witnesses in the trial of Dr. Sosthène Munyemana repeatedly mentioned the Tumba sector office of which the latter had the keys, as the transit towards the death of the Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.
On May 6, 1994, while Witness X was hidden in a sorghum field, he said he recognized Munyemana by his voice while the latter was looking for Tutsi in houses.
On May 14, the day of his arrest, Witness X saw Sosthène Munyemana in possession of the keys to the sector office. First taken to the Ruganzu bar, a mischievous person named Remera sang about the arrest of the ‘king of Tumba’.
Witness X speaks of the sector office as a ‘place of transit towards death’. It is also said that 8 Tutsi were first locked up in the house called No. 60 before being locked up in the office. An estimated 400 Tutsi passed through the sector office.
The accused disputes all the accusations but does not deny that the keys were in his possession; through his statement, the accused says that it was he who opened the sector office for Witness X.
A lawyer for the civil parties reminds him of his successive statements concerning the keys to the office: “I have always been the only one to hold the key to the sector office”, a statement made twice. Then: “I never gave the key to anyone”. Finally, in March 2016: “There may have been multiple keys.”
The trial of Dr. Sosthène Munyemana before the Paris Assize Court began on November 14, 2023, he is being prosecuted for the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity which he committed between April 7, 1994 and June 22 1994 in Butare prefecture where he was a gynecologist.
