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Rwanda

Life sentence for genocide organiser and two other officers

Article published on the 2008-12-18 Latest update 2008-12-18 13:21 TU

Théoneste Bagosora
(Photo: TPIR / UNICTR)

Théoneste Bagosora
(Photo: TPIR / UNICTR)

The International Penal Tribunal for Rwanda has condemned a former colonel from the Rwandan army, Théoneste Bagosora, to life-imprisonment, along with two other former military officers. Bagasora was found guilty of "genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes" in relation to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The tribunal said the former army colonal had announced his intention in 1993 to prepare "the apocalypse" and that he was in charge of the Interahamwe militias that killed hundreds of thousands.

Bagosora has always claimed that he was innocent and still refuses to describe the killings of 1994 as genocide. His lawyer, Raphael Constant, said his client would appeal the decision, describing it as a disappointment.

He told RFI that "they dropped all the charges that directly implicated Bagosora as a person" saying that "according to the tribunal, he was responsible for the Defence Ministry from the 6 to the 9 April 1994".

Constant said he had argued that "the fact that he was Director of the Cabinet of the Defence Ministry does not mean that he had any power over the army and the police".

Two codefendants, Aloys Ntabakuze and Anatole Nsengiyumva, were sentenced to life in jail for the same charges. Another, Gratien Kabiligi, was aquitted of all charges relating to genocide and released.

The court also ruled on a case against Protais Zigiranyirazo, the brother-in-law of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose death when his plane was shot down sparked the genocide.

Zigiranyirazoe was convicted of "aiding and encouraging" the killing of 1,500 people near Kigali in April 1994.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after the court decided that he wielded influence, even though he did not hold any official post at the time.