Genocide survivors have faulted the U.S. for what they think is Washington’s soft stance with regard to ongoing cases at the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
According to the Chamber, the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Tutsi women and girls were raped, mutilated and sexually assaulted by Interahamwe, other militias, soldiers and civilians on a large scale in various places in Rwanda, as part of a widespread and systematic attack that intended to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group. The judges noted that the accused took no action to prevent Interahamwe from raping or to punish the perpetrators. “Accordingly, the Chamber finds that Karemera and Ngirumpatse are liable for the rapes and sexual assaults against Tutsi women and girls,” the judges ruled.
The Hirondelle News Agency reports that on 24 June 2011, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, the only woman ever to have been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for genocide and crimes against humanity, was sentenced to life imprisonment after having been found guilty for her participation in the 1994 genocide.
Two major developments are taking place before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda this month. The first involves the arrest of Bernard Munyagishari, an Interahamwe leader who is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, including rape. The second concerns an announcement by the Tribunal that it will deliver judgment in the longest joint trial of six accused on June 24, 2011. Among the accused is the former Rwandan Minister of Family and Women Affairs, who is charged with ordering rape.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) found Augustin Bizimungu guilty on six counts of genocide, crimes against humanity for murder, extermination and rape and violations of the Geneva Conventions and sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
In March and April of this year, the Trial and Appeals Chambers of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda acquitted two accused charged with sexual violence.
The Hirondelle News Agency in Arusha reports that a Rwandan medical doctor, Jean-Chrysostome Ndindabahizi, who had been apprehended in Gabon in June for his alleged role in the Tutsi genocide, was recently re-arrested.
In March 2010, Ildephonse Nizeyimana again pleaded ‘not guilty’ to charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and rape. Nizeyimana was second-in-command of the Non-commissioned Officers School in the southern town of Butare at the time of the 1994 genocide. Allegedly, Nizeyimana permitted men under his command to rape Tutsi girls and women as part of a genocidal project.
Jean-Baptiste Gatete, a former Director in the Rwandan Ministry of Women and Family Affairs, stood trial at the ICTR in October 2009 for his role in the Rwandan genocide. He is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. He is alleged to have presided over pogroms which took place in the Catholic churches of Kiziguro and Mukarange, where thousands of Tutsis were killed and women and girls were serially raped.
Tharcisse Renzaho, the former governor of Kigali, received a life sentence from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for inciting and participating in the killing of Tutsi during the 1994 genocide. The Trial Chamber also held that he incited sexual violence by encouraging the rape of Tutsi girls and women.
