The skulls of victims in the Nyarama Church are chilling reminders of the Rwanda genocide in 1994, when hundreds of thousands were killed. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A genocide survivor grieves over the mummified remains of relatives at a memorial centre in Rwanda. Most survivors of the atrocity have expressed satisfaction after the UN-backed war crimes court sentenced the mastermind to life in prison. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
19 Dec 2008, ST
NAIROBI: A United Nations court has sentenced a former army colonel accused of masterminding Rwanda's genocide in 1994 to life in prison.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Tanzania, has accused Theoneste Bagosora, 67, of being in charge of the troops and the extremist Interahamwe Hutu militia that butchered 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 100 days.
'Colonel Bagosora is guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity and war crimes,' the court said yesterday.
The slaughter is thought to have been triggered by the mysterious downing of a plane carrying Rwanda's then-president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, and his Burundian counterpart on April 6, 1994.
The tribunal ruled that Bagosora was also responsible for the assassination of former prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana.
It also ruled that Bagosora, then the Cabinet director of the Defence Ministry, was behind the massacre of Tutsis at road blocks in Kigali, the capital, and in his home region of Gisenyi in the north.
After the genocide, he fled into exile in Cameroon, where he was later arrested in 1996. His trial began in 2002 and lasted five years until mid-2007.
Bagosora faced 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was tried along with three co-defendants, two of whom, also ex-military officers, were also sentenced to life, while the third was acquitted. Bagosora's lawyer said his client would challenge his conviction.
Earlier, the court sentenced businessman Protais Zigiranyirazo, brother-in-law of Habyarimana, to 20 years in prison for genocide and extermination. He has already served seven years.
Zigiranyirazo was convicted of 'aiding and encouraging' the killing of some 1,500 Tutsis on April 8, 1994 in northern Rwanda and 10 to 20 others near Kigali.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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