French Court Sentences Former Doctor to Prison for His Role in the Rwandan Genocide

A French court sentenced former Rwandan doctor Eugène Rwamucyo to 27 years in prison for complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Although acquitted of direct genocide charges, Rwamucyo, 65, was found guilty of promoting anti-Tutsi propaganda and concealing evidence of mass killings. Witnesses testified that Rwamucyo incited violence and encouraged militias to target Tutsis. His defense argued that his role in the mass burials was aimed at preventing a health crisis and argued that he was being tried for political opposition to the Rwandan government. Rwamucyo, who was previously sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia by a Rwandan court, was arrested in France in 2010 after attending the funeral of a former Rwandan official convicted of war crimes during the genocide. This decision follows a series of cases in France regarding the Rwandan genocide, including the sentencing of former doctor Sosthene Munyemana to 24 years in prison.

SOURCE: BBC