Ex-Rwandan doctor jailed 24 years in Paris for role in 1994 genocide
Ex-Rwandan doctor Sosthène Munyemana was sentenced by the Paris Assize Court to 24 years in prison for his role in the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi in 1994.
Munyemana, aged 68 was charged on December 20, with genocide, crimes against humanity and involvement in a plot to conduct these crimes.
The attorneys of the former gynaecologist declared that they would be filing an appeal against the decision.
He was accused of signing a motion endorsing the provisional government set up following the attack on Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana's plane, which in turn facilitated the massacres that took place between April and July 1994.
The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, which lasted for approximately 100 days, resulted in about one million Tutsis and a few Hutus and other ethnic groups who opposed the genocide being killed by extremist Hutus.
“I have placed the agenda of prevention at the centre of our work… the whole basis of international criminal justice illustrates that perpetrators can no longer assume impunity… the remarkable work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the first court in history to convict an individual of genocide – was instrumental in this effort,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres during the 28th International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
