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UN court hands life sentence to Rwandan ex-minister

01 June 2012 04:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The UN war crimes tribunal for Rwanda has sentenced former Rwandan Youth Minister Callixte Nzabonimana to life in prison for his role in the East African countryâ€™s 1994 genocide, APA reports quoting Press TV.

On Thursday, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in the city of Arusha in northern Tanzania, found the former minister guilty of genocide, plotting to commit genocide, incitement to commit genocide, and extermination, the court reported on its website.

â€œFor these crimes, and taking into account all the relevant circumstances, the chamber sentences you to life in prison,â€ presiding judge Solomy Balungi Bossa told Nzabonimana.

A key element in the former minister’s conviction was his participation, alongside other members of the government, in a meeting held on April 18, 1994 in the town of Murambi in Gitarama -- one of the former 12 provinces of Rwanda, which was situated in the centre of the country.

According to the verdict, the meeting cemented â€œan agreementâ€ between Nzabonimana and other ministers â€œto encourage the killing of Tutsis...with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Tutsi population as such in Gitarama prefecture.â€

The 59-year-old was arrested in Tanzania in February 2008 and put on trial 18 months later.

The genocide began after the plane of the country’s former Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down and Hutus were incited to commit acts of ethnic violence against Tutsis. Former Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was also killed in the crash.

The double assassination is yet to be fully solved and investigations continue to date.

Soldiers and police under former Health Minister Casimir Bizimungu’s command directed the killing of thousands of Tutsis who had sought refuge in churches, hospitals, and schools. The UN says about 200,000 Hutus participated in the massacre.

800,000 to one million people were killed in the genocide, which lasted approximately 100 days, and is hence called the "100 Days of Hell."