A woman on trial for Rwanda's massacre

Her son sits a row ahead of her in the courtroom, cleaning his fingernails with the edge of a briefing paper. During the breaks in proceedings he sits still, avoiding eye contact with his mother. He is alleged to have personally kidnapped and raped about ten Tutsi women, killed several dozen, and overseen hundreds of other atrocities.

According to the UN, at least 250,000 women were raped in Rwanda in 1994. Most are not alive to tell their tales, while others are dying of AIDS contracted through the rapes. There are, according to aid organizations, close to 5,000 children in Rwanda today who were born of the 1994 rapes. Mr. Ntahobali, like his mother and the other officials, has pleaded not guilty.

The ICTR was Established in 1995 in the sleepy town of Arusha, Tanzania. Its mission is to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of genocide. Last week, after a four-month recess, the case against Mrs. Nyiramasuhuko and five others - the biggest trial at the tribunal to date - reopened.

"For a long time there was impunity in Rwanda, but we have ended that and are giving an example to the rest of the world," says Holo Makwaia, a ICTR prosecutor. "It may take time, but others will be deterred and will know that if they commit crimes, they will be brought to task."

Just last month, two other men who had pleaded not guilty - Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, and his son Gerald Ntakirutimana, a doctor - were convicted in this court for their part in the genocide. The Ntakirutimanas were accused of herding large groups of Tutsi men, women, and children into a church and hospital compound in the Kibuye region of western Rwanda and calling armed Hutus to come and kill them.

"Our dear leader. How are you?" wrote the members of the parish to their pastor on the night before they were massacred in the church. "We wish to inform you that we have heard that tomorrow we will be killed with our families."

American author Philip Gourevitch used these lines for the title of his book on the genocide, helping to publicize the case of the elder Mr. Ntakirutimana, who had fled Rwanda to Laredo, Texas, after the genocide.

The prosecution said Ntakirutimana replied to the letter with the words:

"There is nothing I can do for you. All you can do is prepare to die, for your time has come."

The convictions of the Ntakirutimanas were only the ninth and tenth rendered since the tribunal opened. One man has been acquitted and nine trials are currently in progress, but most of the 70-odd detainees indicted by the ICTR - all ringleaders of the genocide - are still waiting their day in court. About a dozen have yet to be apprehended.

The cross examination of "R.E." continues.

"What day of the week was it? What month?" demands the defense counsel. "I don't know," she replies, her voice shaky. "All I know is that I thought I was going to die that day."

Nyiramasuhuko adjusts one of the shoulder pads of her pretty dress and jots a note. She is listening, but it is impossible to know what she hears of the pain.

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