Rwanda

Former Rwandan Minister Gets 30 Years for Genocide Role

A Rwandan ex-deputy interior minister who tricked thousands of people into hiding on a hill where they were butchered has been jailed for genocide.

Callixte Kalimanzira, 54, was sentenced to 30 years for his role in the 1994 slaughter.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda heard he supervised massacres in the southern region of Butare.

More than 800-000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the 100-day genocide that shocked the world.

Posted in Equality/Justice, genocide, Rwanda

Rwandan Man Convicted of War Crimes in Canadian Court

The judge hadn’t even finished reading his verdict before Désiré Munyaneza put his head in his hands and bent over in the prisoners' box. He stole a look at his wife and sister sitting in the front row of the courthouse and shook his head, slightly smiling in disbelief.

All three defence lawyers looked increasingly dismayed, while Munyaneza’s relatives wiped tears from their eyes.

Posted in Equality/Justice, war crimes, Rwanda

World 'Abandoned' Rwanda During Genocide: Kagame

$Skulls of victims of one of the massacres during the 1994 Rwandan genocide are displayed at the Genocide Memorial Site church of Ntarama in Nyamata, Rwanda, in 2004. Rwanda President Paul Kagame on Tuesday slammed the cowardice of an international community that \"abandoned\" his people, 15 years on from the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people died. (AFP)$

KIGALI - Rwanda President Paul Kagame on Tuesday slammed the cowardice of an international community that "abandoned" his people, 15 years on from the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people died.

In a speech marking the anniversary, Kagame addressed nearly 20,000 people gathered at a symbolic location in Kigali -- as survivors hissed at a "failure of humanity" and recounted fooling the butchers responsible for the orgy of violence by lying among dead bodies.

Posted in genocide, Rwanda

Official: Uganda to Rebury Rwanda Genocide Victims

$Map and chronology of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwanda has chosen a symbolic location to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi minority and highlight \"the bankruptcy of humanity\" during the 1994 massacres. (afp.com/Afp/Graphic/File)$

KAMPALA, Uganda - The bodies of nearly 11,000 Rwandan genocide victims that floated more than 100 miles downriver and were placed in makeshift graves in Uganda will receive proper reburial, Rwanda's ambassador said Sunday.

The bodies will be exhumed from the shores of Lake Victoria and reburied in three permanent mass graves, Ambassador Ignatius Kamali said on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide.

Posted in genocide, Rwanda

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2009
3:30 PM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Tel: +1-212-216-1832
Email: hrwpress@hrw.org

Rwanda: End Lifetime Solitary Confinement

Move to Secure Transfers From International Tribunal Falls Short

NEW YORK - January 29 - The Rwandan government should honor its international obligations by enacting legislation to abolish life imprisonment in solitary confinement, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

In December 2008, the Rwanda Parliament prohibited life in solitary confinement for genocide suspects transferred from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) or extradited from other countries and found g

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Posted in Human Rights, prison system, Rwanda

Rwanda: No Conspiracy, No Genocide Planning ... No Genocide?

The media reports of the December 18 judgment of Chamber-1 at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda focused primarily on the convictions of three of four former top military leaders, who were the supposed “masterminds” of the Rwandan genocide. But, as those who have followed the ICTR closely know, convictions of members of the former Rwandan government and military are scarcely newsworthy.

Posted in Equality/Justice, genocide, international law, Rwanda

Tribunal Sentences Rwandan 'Genocide Mastermind' to Life

ARUSHA, Tanzania - A UN-backed tribunal on Thursday sentenced the man accused of having masterminded Rwanda's 1994 genocide to life in prison for his part in the massacres that killed some 800,000 people.

Theoneste Bagosora was convicted "of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," said judge Erik Mose at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Immediately after the verdict, Bagosora's French lawyer Raphael Constant said his client would appeal against his conviction, which he described as "a disappointment."

Posted in international law, Rwanda

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2008
10:42 AM

CONTACT: ICTR-ADAD (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda/Association of Defense Lawyers)

ADAD Bureau
Pres. Peter Erlinder [US] (e) peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu /078-629-5177
VP. Gershom Otachi Ken](e/f) gershomotachi@yahoo.com / 075-437-8415
Sec. Gen. M. Sahinkuye [Den] (e/f) sahinkuye2002@yahoo.fr /
Tr. Nathalie Leblanc [Can] (e/f) nathalieleblanc@hotmail.com /
Chris Black [Can] (e/f) bar@idirect.com / 075 466-6972
John Philpot [Can] (e/f) jhilpot@videotron.ca / 075-535-2931
Beth Lyons [US] (ex-officio IADL rep.)(e/f) bethlyons@aol.com / 075-294-6201

Rwandan Military Leaders Found Not-Guilty of Conspiracy and Genocide Planning

ARUSHA, Tanzania - December 18 - Today's ICTR judgments in the Military-I trial completely rejected the Prosecution theory of long-term planning and conspiracy to commit genocide by members of the former Rwandan military leadership. All four defendants were found "not guilty" of all counts charging conspiracy to commit genocide, based on the Chambers ruling that their actions prior to April 6, 1994 were based on war-time conditions, not planning to kill civilians or to carry out a genocide against Tutsi Rwandans.

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Posted in Rwanda

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2008
10:56 AM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Rwanda Tribunal Should Pursue Justice for RPF Crimes

Failure to Act Risks Undermining Court’s Legacy

- December 12 - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda's (ICTR) prosecutor's failure to date to bring cases against Rwandan Patriotic Front officers responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1994 genocide risks undermining the court's legacy, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 12, 2008, ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Jallow will brief the Security Council, which is finalizing plans to close the court.

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Posted in Rwanda

How We Fuel Africa's Bloodiest War

The deadliest war since Adolf Hitler marched across Europe is starting again -- and you are almost certainly carrying a blood-soaked chunk of the slaughter in your pocket. When we glance at the holocaust in Congo, with 5.4 million dead, the clichés of Africa reporting tumble out: this is a "tribal conflict" in "the Heart of Darkness". It isn't. The United Nations investigation found it was a war led by "armies of business" to seize the metals that make our 21st-century society zing and bling. The war in Congo is a war about you.

Posted in War/Empire, Congo, Rwanda