afrol News, 16 November - A former major in the Rwandan army has been sent to jail for 11 years by the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (TCTR) after he was found guilty of genocide crimes.

Juvenal Rugambarara had earlier pleaded guilty to committing crimes against humanity during the country's 100-day long genocide in 1994.

The genocide, which saw the mass slaughter of moderate Hutus and Tutsis by the Hutus, claimed more than 800,000 lives.

His guilty plea preceeded two years of negotiation with the office of the ICTR prosecutor, resulting to dropping one of the nine counts brought against him.

Arrested in Uganda in August 2003, Rugambarara who was subsequently handed over to the Arusha tribunal, was accused of the following crimes: genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions.

The ex-major initially pleaded his innocence when he was first arraigned before the genocide tribunal on 15 August 2003.

But after admitting guilt, Rugambarara regretted committing the crimes and sought forgiveness from the people he had offended.

Established by the United Nations to try the 1994 genocide suspects, the tribunal had so far convicted 29 people and acquitted five others. The tribunal is expected to wind up operations next year.

An inquiry commission on Rwandan genocide was submitted to the country's government. Though the report is yet to be made public, but according to leaks, the report indicted France for its role in the genocide.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories