Rwanda: Genocide Perpetrator Muvunyi Found Dead in Niger

10 June 2023
The New Times (Kigali)
By Heritier Bahizi

A former Rwandan genocidal regime's Lieutenant Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi who convicted of inciting the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, in 1994, has died in Niger after a plea for medical assistance in the UK went unanswered, it is reported.

Muvunyi was arrested in the United Kingdom and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2010.

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According to Muvunyi's lawyer, Abbe Jolles, he was found dead in the shower by one of his housemates on Saturday, June 10, in the afternoon.

Earlier, he was residing in a safe house in Arusha, Tanzania since his release in 2012. He relocated to Niger in 2021, living with seven others from Tanzania also tried for their involvement in the Genocide 1994.

As reported, Muvunyi had been unwell for several weeks. He was found unconscious at home on May 6. Although he was taken to the hospital, the brain scans that were ordered were never completed. He was discharged on May 10.

Jolles filed a request with the UN on May 16 for Muvunyi's urgent medical evacuation to the UK. However, it is reported, no response was received.

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Remembered for his inflammatory language in 1994, Muvunyi played a role in inciting ethnic tensions during the Genocide.

Witnesses testified that he, among others, used a metaphor insinuating that when a snake coils itself onto a calabash, the only solution is to break the calabash.

This metaphorical call led to further violence, as Hutu men married to Tutsi women were encouraged to surrender them to be killed.

ALSO READ: Witness pins Muvunyi on genocide speech

Muvunyi's case was initially handled by the now defunct United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which ordered his early release from the UN Detention Facility in Arusha on March 6, 2012.

He had been previously convicted of multiple acts of genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, and other inhumane acts.

However, all convictions and the sentence were overturned on appeal, leading to a retrial on one charge of direct and public incitement to commit genocide. In the retrial, held on February 11, 2010, Trial Chamber III of the Tribunal found Muvunyi guilty of the charge and sentenced him to 15 years in prison, taking into account the time he had already served.

Protests ensued in the aftermath of the early release of the convicted Genocide perpetrator.

Read the original article on New Times.

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