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Monitoring at the trial against Onesphore Rwabukombe

Since the start of the main trial on January 18, 2011, students from Philipps University Marburg have been observing the criminal proceedings against O. Rwabukombe at the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt. The 53-year-old Rwandan is accused of committing genocide and murder, as well as incitement to these crimes, by ordering and coordinating three massacres in April 1994, in which at least 3,730 Tutsi were killed. Observations of a criminal trial, common at international tribunals, are usually aimed primarily at ensuring compliance with the rule of law. In this project, however, the focus is especially on the various procedural challenges faced by the German judiciary in such a large-scale trial. The trial was presided over by Judge Sagebiel. Given the immense scope of the allegations, the prosecution was represented by officials from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office at the Federal Court of Justice (GBA), while the defense was handled by attorneys von Wistinghausen and Dr. Woweries. Attorney Magsam represented the co-plaintiffs.

Under the academic supervision of Professor Dr. Christoph Safferling, more than 100 students from Law, Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Science, and other disciplines accompanied and analyzed the trial. Weekly reports were initially produced, structuring and summarizing the proceedings, which are now fully available to the public.

Below you will find the monitoring reports for the trial against Onesphore Rwabukombe at the OLG Frankfurt: