MICT ( ) IN THE MECHA NISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIM INAL TRIBUNALS THE PRO SECUTOR JEAN DE DIEU KAM UHANDA.

Transcription

1 MICT ( ) IN THE MECHA NISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIM INAL TRIBUNALS CASE No. MICT-I3-33 THE SINGLE JU DGE Before: Registrar: Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti Mr. John Hocking Date Filed: 17 August THE PRO SECUTOR v. JEAN DE DIEU KAM UHANDA Publi c MOTION FOR ORAL HEARING FOR PROSECUTION WITNESS GET Office of the Prosecutor: Mr. Serge Brammertz Mr. Richard Karegyesa Jean de die" Kamuhanda: Mr. Peter Robinson Received by the Registry Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals 17/08/ :49 No. MICT-13-33

2 l 1326 t. Jean de dieu Kamuhand a respectfull y requests an order that Prosecution Witness GET appear at an oral hearing before the Single Judge to properl y determine whether he would consent to be interviewed by counsel for Mr. Kamu handa. 2. Pursuant to an order from the Single Judge that the Witness Support and Protection Unit (" WISP") contact Prosecution Witness GET to determine ifhe was willing to be interviewed by counsel for Mr. Kamuhanda,' the WISP met the witness on 2 August 2016 and reported on that same day that the witness declined to be interviewed by counsel for Mr. Kamuhanda The Single Judge then issued a decision on 5 August denying Mr. Kamuhanda' s motion to interview Prosecution Witness GET.) 4. However, after the Single Judge ordered the WISP to disclose the Witness GET's consent form to the parties; counsel for Mr. Kamuhanda observed that the consent form contained the following language: I fully understand the meaning and implications ofmy personal decision and therefore commit myself, through this docum ent, not to hold WISP and the Mechanism in general accountable for any moral and material prejudi ce wh ich I might suffer from my decision as to whether to participate in such an interview. 5. This language can only discourage a witness from co nsenting to an interview. Being told that slhe migh t suffer moral and material prejudice if slhe consents to an interview with defence counsel, and that the Mle T and WISP would not be accountable for any such prejudi ce is tantam ount to telling the witness not to consent. 6. The Single Judge instructed the WISP to inform the witness ofthe purpose and voluntary character of the request for interview. There is no j ustification for discouraging the witness to co nsent to the interview by suggesting the witness may suffer moral or material prejudice from it, and further that the MICT and WISP disclaim all responsibility for the witness' decision should slhe choose to consent to the interview. 7. By so advising the witness, the WISP violated the instructions of the Single Judge and the fairness of the process. I Ordonnance aux fins du Depol d 'Observations Concernant une Demande d 'Authorisation d 'lnterroger un Temoin ( 19 July 20 16) : Registrar's Submission Pursuant to Orderof19 July 2016 (2 August 20 16) } Decision Relative a un Demande d'authorisatian d 'buerroger un Temoin (5 August 2016) Decision Relative a un Demande de Modification des Conditions de Depot d 'Observations du Greffi er ( 10 August 2016) No. MICT

3 On 10 August 2016, after receiving disclosure ofthe consent form, counsel for Mr. Kamuhanda contacted the Registrar in an effort to resolve the matter informally by the Registrar ceasing to include this language in future requests for consent.' On 16 August 20 16, the Registry responded that it would not do so, as the language is used for both prosecution and d efence witnesses." Since there is little chance that the prosecution would be requesting to interview defence witnesses now that all cases at the ICTR are completed. the inappropriate language discouraging such interviews dispro portionally disadvantages the defence. 9. At the ICTY. no such prejudicial disclaimer has ever been used to the knowledge of defence counsel. In the Karadnc case, witnesses were simply asked ifthey were willing to consent to be interviewed by the other party. Dozens ofwitnesses consented to be interviewed. 10. It is well established in the jurisprudence ofthe Tribunals that a witness is not the property ofeither party," and the defence may have a legitimate interest in interviewing a prosecuti on witness in order to properly prepare its cese.! The language used by the WISP makes the effort by the defence appear to be illegitimate and potentially harmful to the witness, and frustrates the principle of equal access to witnesses. II. Therefore, Mr. Kamuhanda turns to the Single Judge for a remedy. S A copy of the letter is attached as Annex "A", 6 A copy of the is attached as Annex " B", The name of the legal Officer is redac ted pursuant to MICT Practice Direction on Filings, Article 8(2), 7 Prosecutor v Mrlcsic et ai, No. 1T-9S-13!I -A R73, lj«ision on Defence Interlocutory Appeal on Communicalion with Potential Witnesses of/he Other Party (30 July 2003) at para, IS; Prosecutor v Karemera et ai, No, ICTR PT, Decision on Joseph Nzirorera 's Motion for Order Allowing Meeting with Defence Witness (13 Jul y 200 5) at para. 7; Prosecutor v Karemera et al, No. ICTR T, Decision on Def ence Motion fo r Further Order to Obtain Doc-uments in Possession ofgovernment of Rwanda (27 Nov 2006) at paras. 8, 13; Prosecutor v Ndindliyimana et ai, No. ICT R-OO-S6-T. Decision on Bizimungu's Extremely Urgent Motion to Contact and Meet With Prosecution Witness GAP (26 October 2007) at para. 3; Prosecutor y Bizimungu et ai, No. ICTR-99-S0-T, Decision on Prosper Mugirineza 's Motion to Vary Restrictions in the Trial Chamber 's Order of2 October 2003 Relatedto Access Jean Kambanda (24 August 2(04) at para. 18; Prosecutor v Karemera et ai, No. ICT R T, Decision on Defence Motion fo r Issuance o/subpoena to Witness T(8 February 20(6) at para. 3 Prosecutor v Halilovic, No. IT-OI-48-AR73, Decision on the Issuance of Subpoenas (2 1 June 2004 ) at para. 14; Prosecutor y Ndindliyimana et ai, No. ICTR-OO-56-T, Decision on Bizimungu 's Extremely Urgent Motion 10 COn/act and Meet With Prosecution Wilness GAP (26 October 2007) at para. 3; Prosecutor y Bizimungu et ai, No. ICTR-99-S0-T, Decision on Jerome Clemen/ Bicamumpaka Motion Requesting Recall of Prosecution Witness GF.4; Disclosure ofexculpatory Material; andto Meet with Witness GFA (2 1 April 2(08) at para. 14 No. MICT-I

4 Under the c ircumstances, Mr. Kamuhanda believes that the most app ropriate remedy is for the Single Judge to advise the witness that s/he wou ld not suffer moral or material prejudice from consenting to an interview with counse l for Mr. Kamuhanda, and that the previous advice given to him by the WISP that the WI SP and MI CT would not be accountable if he co nsented to an interview was erroneous and should be disregarded. Word count: 1060 Respe ctfully submitted, PETE R ROBINSON Counsel for J..", dedicu Kamuhanda No. MICT

5 1323 ANNEX "A" PETER ROBINSON Def ence Counsel No. MICT

6 1322 Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals Churchillplein I 25 17JW The Hague Netherlands Ecmail: peter@pete.-rohinson.com 10 August 2016 Mr. John Hocking, Regi strar Mechanism for Internat ional Crimi nal Tribu nals P.O. Box Arusha, Tanzania Re: Prosecutor v Kamuhanda M ICT No Dear Mr. Hocking, I have received disclosure ofa consent form prepared by the Registry and signed by Prosecution Witness GET in connection with my request for an interview with him. Judge Antonetti ordered that this fonn be disclosed to be after it was filed on an ex parte basis. I am concerned that the form contained the following language: "I fully understan d the meaning and implications of my personal decision and therefore co mmi t myself. through this document, not to hold WISP and the Mechanism in gen eral accountable for any moral and material prej udice wh ich I might suffer from my dec ision as to whether to participate in such an interview," Th is language seems highl y inappropriate for a request for an interview. It would discourage even the most intrepid witness from agreeing to an interview, I am requesting that you und ertake to see that this language is removed from all further consent fonns for requests for interviews. I would appreciate it ifyou would let me know by 17 August whether you agree to do so. If I have not heard from you, I will request Judge Antonetti to order the Registry to cease and desist from includ ing this language in furthe r consent fonns. Mr. John Hocking No. MICT

7 page two-, Thank you very much for your consideration of this request. Respectfully submitt ed, PETER ROBINSON Counsel for Jean de dicu Kamuhanda No. MICT

8 1320 ANNEX "B" 16 August Dear Mr. Robinson, 1<0. ~ 1c:r

9 refer to your letter to the Registrar, dated 10 August 2016, regarding The Prosecutor v. Kamuhanda, Case No. MICT The affidavit in question was provided to the Single Judge upon request of Chambers. The Single Judge considered and referred to the affidavit in rendering the Decision issued on 5 August The language in the affidavit which you request to be "removed from all further consent forms for requests for interviews", is language which is equally applied by WISP to both Prosecution and Defence witnesses. It is based on language which was utilized at the ICTR. The Registry intends to continue using this language in its affidavits. Regards, [redacted] Legal Officer Office ofthe Registrar No. Mlc:T

10 TRANSMISSION SHEET FOR FILING OF DOCUMENTS WITH THE MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONALCRIMINAL TRIB UNALS/ FICHE DE TRANSMISSION POUR LE DEP6T DE DOCUMENTS DEVANT LE MECANISME POUR LES TRIBUNAUX PENAUXINTERNATlONAUX I - FILING INFORMATION / INFORMATIONS GENERALES Tol A : MICT Reg istryl Greffe du MTPI I8J Aru shaj Arusha o The Hague! La Hare Fro m! o Cham bers! 181 DefenceJ o Prosecution! o Otherl Autre : De : Chambre [)(jfense Buteau du Procureur Cue Namel Prosecutor v Kamuhanda Case Numberl MICT Affaire: Affaire n : Date Created! 16 August 2016 Date transmlttedl 17 August 2016 No. of PageaJ 9 Dar. du: Transmls Ie : Hombre de pages : Original Lang uag e J I8J English! o Frel'lChl o Kinyarwanda o BlC/S o Other/Autre Langue de I' origlna' : Angfais Fram;ais (spedfy/~cise" : Title of DocumentJ Titre du document : MOnON FOR ORAL HEARING FOR PROSECUTION WITNESS GET Classification Leve V 181 Unclassifiedl o Ex Parte Defence excludedl D(J(ense axe/ue Cat'garlas de Non dassme o Ex Parte Prosecution excluded! Bureau du Procureur exclu classification : o Coofld entialf o Ex Parte R86{H) applicant excluded! Art. 86 H) requllrant excju Confldentiel o Strictly ConfidentiaV Ex Parte Amicu s Curiae excluded! Amicus curiae exe/u o Ex Parte other exclusionl autre(s) partie(s) axe/ue(s) Strictemant confldentiel (specify/pr8cisel') : Document typel 18I Motion! o Sub mission from part ies! o Indictme nt! Type de document : RequfJte ~Critu res dllposlle s par des parties Acte d'accusation o Decision! o Submission from nc n-peruee/ o W arrant' Dilcisiofl ~critures dllposlles pardes tiers Mandat o Orderl o Book of Authorities! o Notice of AppeaV Ordonnance Recueil de sources Acte d 'appel o JUdgem ent' JugemenVArrfJt o Affidavit! Wclaratiofl sous serment II TRANSLATION STATUS ON THE FILING DATE/ frat DE LA TRADUCTIONAUJOUR DU DEP6T o Translation not required/ La traduction n'est pas requise [8JFiling Party hereby submits only the origi nal, and requests the Registry to translate/ La partie deposante ne soumet que foriginal et soilicite que Ie Greffe prenne en charge la traduction.- CrNord version of the document is attached! La version Word est joint8) o English! Anglais 18I FranChI o Kinyarwanda o SlC/S o Other/Autre Franrjsis (specify/pr8cis8r) : o Filing Party hereby submits both the original and the translated version for filing, as follows! La partie dllposante soumet /,original et la version traduite eux fins de depot, comma suit : OrlglnaU o English! o Frenchl o Kinyarwanda o BlC/S o Other/Autre Original en Angfais Fram;ais (specifylpre cisel') : Tran slatlonl o English! o Frenchl o Kinyarwand a o BlC/S o Other/Autre Tradu ction en Angfais Frantj8is (specifylprec;sel') : o Filing Party will be submitting the translated version($) in due course in the following langu age(s)! La partie deposante soumettra la (las) version(s) traduite(s) SOlIS peu, dans la (les) langue(s) suivante(s) : o Englishl Anglais o Frenchl o Kinyarwa nda o BICIS o Other/Autre Franrjais (specify/precisei') : Send completed trans mission sheet tol Veuillez soumettre ceree fiche diiment remplie d : JudjdaIFiljngsArusha@IInorgOR/OU ludjdalfjljngsha gue@ynate Rev: April 20 14/Rev. : Avril 2014