Rwanda Genocide - 24-Year Sentence For 'Butcher' In France

Former Rwandan doctor, Sosthene Munyemana, 68, has been jailed by a French court for his involvement in the 1994 genocide, according to a BBC report. On December 19 he was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and participation in a conspiracy to prepare these crimes.

The Cour d' assises de Paris began proceedings against Munyemana - the seventh such case of a Rwandan tried in France - for his role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Aurore Teta Ufitiwabo wrote for New Times on November 13, 2023.

Munyemana was tried for being at the forefront of massacres in Tumba - a locality in current Huye town, southern Rwanda - a role that earned him the nickname "Butcher of Tumba". Munyemana is a Hutu and at the time of the genocide was a practising gynaecologist at the university hospital.

His trial followed that of several other alleged genocide perpetrators who were found hiding in France or other countries around the world, several of whom have been sentenced in France.

The Rwandan genocide occurred between April 7 and July 15,1994, when - for about 100 days - members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias.