UN tribunal sentences former Rwandan Army chief to 30 years in prison

UN tribunal sentences former Rwandan Army chief to 30 years in prison

2011-05-18 04:57:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- A United Nations tribunal on Tuesday sentenced Augustin Bizimungu, former Rwandan Army chief to 30 years in prison for committing many war crimes.

Bizimungu was found guilty of six counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, murder, rape and other violations to the articles of the Geneva Conventions by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

A three judge panel acquitted the former chief of staff of the Rwandan armed forces on a count of conspiracy to commit genocide and dismissed a charge of complicity to commit genocide.

During trial, prosecutors told the ICTR that Bizimungu was instrumental in the organization of the Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slain in less than 100 days starting in April 1994.

Bizimungu reportedly gave orders to exterminate "the small cockroaches" on the first day of the genocide. His lawyers alleged that he had little control over his subordinates who carried out the massacre.

Also on Tuesday, three other senior military officers of Rwanda were found guilty of similar war crimes in the same trial. François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, former commander of the Reconnaissance battalion in the Rwandan army, and Innocent Sagahutu, his second-in-command, were each sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Augustin Ndindiliyimana, who served as chief of staff of the national gendarmerie, was released after he was sentenced to a time in prison which he has already served since his arrest in Belgium in January 2000.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is a United Nations court set up after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

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