- An appeal of a convicted Rwandan military officer was dismissed by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Tanzania.
The court upheld Aloys Simba's 25-year prison sentence. The former army colonel was found guilty of committing genocide, extermination and crimes against humanity in 2005.
Simba's lawyers filed an appeal challenging the judgment. They argued that the judgment contained "errors of fact and procedure."
But judges dismissed all aspects of the defence team's appeal.
Simba had been close to the former Rwandan President, Juvenal Habyarimana, since he ascended to power in 1973. Hybarimana's death in a plane crash on 6 April 1994 sparked the 100-day genocide which saw the mass slaughter of Tutsis and Moderate Hutus by the Hutu militia.
The former colonel was convicted for arming and inciting his men to carry out the mass slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the southern Gikongor and Butare provinces.
Simba's attempts to jump the jurisdiction of the ICTR was unsuccessful, as he was arrested in Senegal in 2001 and extradited to stand trial before the Arusha-based tribunal.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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