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tv   Close up  Deutsche Welle  June 25, 2019 12:30am-1:00am CEST

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download superstar combo from super lucky. to be able to attract and varied causes kind of into active exercises are thinking about that d w dot com slash dollars landed on facebook in the app store. in german for free with the devil you. and a longer t.a. are tracking down the people responsible for one of the worst crimes of the 20th century the $994.00 genocide in rwanda. in many cases the trail leads from rwanda back to their home country france one pct 2 continents. those who are suspected of taking part in the crimes must be tried before court
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especially those currently living in france. of course. so we are fighting for justice. because the victims have a right to that this it just must make sure that they're not forgotten. and not go t.a.'s on a difficult mission. he is in rwanda tracking down witnesses and evidence of crimes committed 25 years ago the massacre of the country's tutsi minority and moderate hutus. i'm looking into 2 new cases they involve 2 people who fled to france. international arrest warrants were issued for both of them but france is refusing to recognize them to rwanda and won't bring up legal proceedings ago. instrument france either. grew up into but i
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don't know exactly how things will go today but i'm hoping to get witness statements from some of the victims. would be more the victim. a logger to a isn't a police officer or a prosecutor he's a retired teacher and his detective work is private to many survivors he is the only hope left to finding justice. but we cannot accept that people who took part in this genocide against the treaties. are now living a peaceful life in france. while the survivors still live here in poverty. because the perpetrators aren't friends and have acquired a kind of immunity. really need to. rwanda the land of a 1000 hills. in 994 the sticks arrest country witnessed one of the greatest
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humanitarian crimes in recent history. extremists from the who's who majority murdered almost a 1000000 tutsis and moderate hutus within 100 days. the international community stood by idly and watched. in this church and she's a girl alone more than 3 and a half 1000 people were killed in just a single day. and this is where our now begins his search. regina is one of the few to have survived the church massacre. who would do it that if you moved my whole family was hiding here. who were years ago when we were
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a big family with them and now i'm the only one left and you know they dumped the bodies into the cistern in front of the church i survived despite my severe injuries. they did things to us that were so dreadful it's hard to imagine and. it's agonizing to hear that these people are now living in peace somewhere else as if nothing had ever happened. and we live with this pain and there's nothing we can do about it. will make. it worse that will never heal. while many victims remain silent regina has made a point of talking to a lot. of. different survivors i've met are
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filling out the documents we need to file a complaint with the examining magistrate will be a more tricky we need to show that they're related to the victims of our case also . it's painstaking work to piece together the evidence while a law hasn't made a big breakthrough today he has laid the foundation for further research. a law is on his way back to the capital kigali for a meeting at the office of the prosecutor general. after all these years rwandan authorities are still pursuing those who committed the crimes but they reach is limited allows work is a valuable asset to them. we know how hard it is for these fugitives and moving into this i'm going to. present as morris been in how.
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to lash out with a number of other countries of the thought the drugs would be a safe haven for the public prosecutor on today doesn't see an ounce prosecution efforts in france as an outside interference but as welcome support the we have a peace deal really that's a solution that book will get you to come on board. this is an international duty we all have the duty. we have the governments with civil societies to contribute to justice to international deceased international. universities and you cannot grade. 25 years later rwanda has transformed into a young and modern society now the various ethnic groups live together peacefully.
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24 year old jack works as a photographer and artist in kigali he and his friends organize cultural events across the entire nation. and alice drive from kigali the crowd has eagerly anticipated the young artists arrival. here and now the past seems far away. but it has not been focusing. on for good causes all for my so. it's more like. showing that one is more damaging. it's almost social in be the rear on the like what are we. so which is rolanda now. to his work is
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not only part of dealing with the past but also a contribution to a brighter future. a few days later and was back in the french city of qom. he and his wife to have lived here for many years. deaf was that he was born in rwanda her mother was murdered in the 1st few days of the genocide. most of her family was also simply wiped out. one day maybe more than 6000 kilometers away but all of memories are right here. the market in question was a ms imagined on my i have the feeling that all the images from back then are still in my head. a few of the places the smells here for example in this family photo you can see my mother with my eldest daughter and that's my youngest sarah. these
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are our children and their cousins the joyous family photo where everyone's gathered together. everyone's happy to see each other and see you as those that we in our children are the only ones still alive i almost feel a bit guilty why us. none of my relatives asked to die. their lives were snuffed out. just like that one. who has the right to do that. having lost nearly the entire family is the driving force behind their tireless work. hard. on our commitment has changed our life completely. yet we were forced to make a choice to choose
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a different way of life than not home want to do vigneault we devote our time to research to finding the people who committed the genocide. there and to compiling ducey is about them for them all inevitably practically everything else in our lives has become secondary and i also gone. next door in their office the documents are piling up this is where the couple conducts they reset. tracking down criminals 25 years after their crime is a difficult undertaking and emotionally draining. knows that suboffice you suppose it's not easy at all like you both of you and it's probably even harder rhonda for you put it. i'm sure her past makes it even more difficult for her to maintain the distance necessary. we can't let ourselves be too moved by witness statements. this is our work and we have to live with that.
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the law is taking the 2 new justice he put together in rwanda to paris that he hopes to convince the state prosecutor's office to open an investigation he believes europeans have a responsibility to act. the people who committed the genocide are being searched for all over europe canada the united states all are looking. but france is different it refuses director dr. none of the perpetrators who are suspects in rwanda to live here have been extradited. to extradition requests 42 refused. so our only chance is to bring them to trial when france. here in the heart of paris is where they go to is lawyer philip powell works she's been supposing that
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if it's 4 years and has a keen understanding for the excruciating details they must gather in order to move the case for it. hopes the results from the research she conducted in rwanda last november will help her ensure the charges are brought against both suspects working with the goatee is very important to the lawyer. my work with i landed very profound because they're so touched by what they do that they have dedicated their entire lives to it it's like they're compelled to do it. that moves me personally as well it gives all of this a special quality certainly you can't treat genocide as if it were just any other criminal case so. this is where everything comes together the palace of justice and law and i have spent a lot of time in the ministry here their organization the civil plaintiffs
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collective. rwanda or c.p.c. are has filed more than 40 complaints over the years but in all that time there have only been 3 convictions. although those 3 convictions wouldn't have happened without us. so we were the ones who mobilized the investigating judges. unfortunately that's the truth of the matter. so to give us a little bit about the judiciary has only recently started to take initiative because you are dishonest the support within the city. minus france shown so little interest in persecuting those who committed the genocide. ready here on the outskirts of the capital ready is france a special judiciary unit to fight crimes against humanity. prosecutor earlier divorce was directly involved in one of the 3 successful lawsuits why most individuals like along do the work of the judiciary for them. to succeed when you
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got to sums it when you know both in terms of geography and time were far removed from where and when the crimes were actually committed. that's why the work of n.g.o.s like analysts is so important. the plant the c.c.r. put together the files and presented them seatbelt on so that we could prepare the indictments only. they could be any way the last culprits guilty of mass murder in rwanda. the same afternoon i neither goes to me to tell mark some. more. about you or your news that there could be cable ghobadi the lawyer from hamburg is also active in rwanda he too is committed to defending the genocide victims in
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germany he represented their next of kin in legal proceedings for years the 2 have been getting together regularly to discuss what progress has been made. these among some is not surprised that france has done so little to pursue the offenders it's hard is because it's no secret that france was very close to the regime that committed those atrocities. and his organization are helping the public prosecution do its job it's a. line the prosecuting attorneys would never have managed to put this together on their own that's why it's so remarkable what his organization and the committee here have accomplished over months. longer to in detail mark someone justice for the victims. but what about
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the perpetrators. one of the 3 men convicted in france for genocide is in a prison just outside of paris. we aren't able to speak with him ourselves but after a number of interview requests his daughter finally agrees to speak to us. was said to meet at a law firm in the city center but to our disappointment when met only by the family's lawyer the convict had cancelled last minute. please epstein is extremely critical of law and his organization. i think the c.b.c. are has devoted itself to the wrong course but people there are prepared to use deceptive arguments sometimes even false witness statements and pretty formulated statements. they were willing to use witnesses who had lie just to get a conviction. for them the end justifies the means that's the position the c.p.c. are represents and under those circumstances i prefer to defend mass murderers they
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are. serious allegations we decide to follow them up. when has collected enough evidence he hands it over to the central office for combat in crimes against humanity genocide and war crimes or o.c.l.c. age there undercover agents retrace the suspect steps in france and rwanda in extensive investigations head of the office says it would be almost impossible for someone innocent to be convicted. when we start looking into a case we don't rely on the statement of just say 5 witnesses. we need a whole lot more. once we have found 304050 witnesses we know we've been thorough. then even if there are 3 among them that aren't
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necessarily credible there are still $47.00 incriminating statements left. the next day a law is back in the hands in 2 weeks he is planning to travel to wonder with. they need to gather more evidence to complete the 2 dossiers they've been working on. while this struggle ever end. rests on an opportunity. that we can ever really know that we only could if people finally help just bring the truth to light. if that happened if we were given support in the archives were opened up to us so if the people who knew what really happened back then would talk then we could finally make some progress. on otherwise it's impossible. to weeks later at the airport in brussels shortly before the 25th anniversary of the genocide and of course on the trail of the suspects again we don't move on our
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way back to rwanda this time duffers ours with me we want to try to meet some witnesses i missed last time. we really hope will be able to talk to some survivors and perhaps even with some people who took part in the genocide. maybe they can help us with our 2 current cases you know so you really do see it. in your wonder they set to work immediately. throughout the year as a law and have traveled across the whole country they know nearly every town and most religious. today they are missing an informant who has uncovered new witnesses to survivors who know the suspects personally. we can't film their conversation the information discussed is confidential and highly
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sensitive. the meeting with the witnesses has to take place under strict secrecy. we have to be very careful. because perpetrators who have fled the country might still have relatives here in rwanda. they could threaten any witness willing to testify. these 2 witnesses are as it were surrender. after an alan long journey and the law arrive at the agreed meeting place. the witness is aware of the risk but she still wants to make a statement and assist alone death and they were. happy to get out. in the jungle because i want the truth to be known. and the world to learn what happened in rwanda back then. i want
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the offenders to be punished for what they have done. it would take me. time to cross check the information do the names dates and places correspond who was seen where and when how reliable is the witnesses memory. the eyewitness was able to confirm allegations against both suspects on law and officer have made a big step forward soon they will have enough material for an indictment in france . feel. today was a 1st step that will have to come back again action or gold question next week we mark be able to find out more from the group of survivors move. could confirm what we heard today. with the prison. but 1st a law and went to visit
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a very special place. this is where the roots of their work lie in a district on the edge of kigali. here on these steps is where death was us mother was shot dead in april 994 all because she was an ethnic tutsi. but i think it's important for us to know what happened here on the morning of april the 8. for all the people who were killed here who were murdered that morning . so do it it's important for the families of the victims. and for the survivors as well. let me give all. mailmen the unlike many others who will never find out what happened to their loved ones who will never know where they were murdered or where their bodies were left we do have certainty in that respect we're lucky they didn't show up.
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here on this commemorative plaque. mother is listed. next to so many other victims. we didn't take up this fight just because we have victims in our own family. that's not why we keep struggling. and we want justice for all the victims more the renew the more not the same thing for everyone who died back then deserves justice. and that is why they quest continue this. the next day they scheduled a very unusual meeting. under law interviewing a man already tried and convicted for genocide he has spent the last 23 years
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behind bars people like him sometimes have particularly valuable information this time with a measure to join the meeting and even name the interviewee best man in man and he explicitly asks us to despise his 3 life sentences he maintains that he has never ever killed anyone. to do if possible. i would like to ask people to accept us as brothers who were forced to kill by the political leadership. despite everything. to give the relatives of the victims noble disasters even a bit of pantry tism your seat. then they should forgive us.
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no but. it's a conversation that's hard for a large deficit to bear. them simple muslim arabs. although it isn't easy for me and it never will be i have to stay calm i know what i'm doing this for. coming here is the price we have to pay to get the information we need. i don't like coming here but it's necessary for our research. and for remembering the victims. the next stop is the kigali genocide memorial that same afternoon. that was i wanted to add a photograph of her mother to the wall one of the almost 1000000 victims in 994.
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despite all the harrowing memories def was believes rwanda has a promising future. on no 400 who has just hit on the head on one that we will never be able to bring back the dead. but rwanda has changed radically since 1904. 100 my think that's clear for anyone to see it isn't just the rwandan dream it's more like the rwandan
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miracle seeing what has happened in the last 25 years. yes i have to say i think it's close to america whatever because. the remains of death has us mother had been missing for a long time. now her body has been laid to rest here in the memorial site along with 250000 other us.
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the idea of the i don't think we'll ever be able to say our work here is done. but being here gives purpose to our fight for justice and the work of all who are fighting against those who committed or deny genocide to get you when we are here we know what we're fighting for. the book. will. kick off. soccer players from africa for decades they've been top performers and crowd favorites in the borders league we caught up with 2 former stars sunday
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on a safe and valkyrie. greatest successes and what they've been doing since going up there cleats. kick off in 90 minutes on the job. it's time. to take one step further. and face the council. voted here on this side at last really time to search the unknown. and find for the troops out. time to overcome boundaries. and connect the world.
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against time for putting a w d w d s coming up ahead. for mines. the 4. u.s. president donald trump has signed an executive order for hard hitting sanctions against iran's supreme leader and the country's top diplomat trump said the sanctions were in part a response to iran's downing of a u.s. drone last week but that his administration had been planning to impose them even before that. a pilot has died after 2 fighter jets crashed in the northeast of germany the 2 are now.

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