Thread: First Genocide Conviction for 1994 Rwanda Massacre

Well talk about the wheels of justice turning slowly....

French court hands down first sentence for Rwandan genocide
15 MAR 2014 13:11 SAPA

A former Rwandan army captain is being sentenced to 25 years in prison over the 1994 genocide, weeks before its 20th anniversary.

In the first trial of its kind in France, Pascal Simbikangwa, a 54-year-old former member of the Rwandan presidential guard, was found guilty of perpetrating genocide and of complicity in crimes against humanity.

Rwanda has long accused France of being reluctant to either extradite or prosecute Rwandans accused of having taken part in the 1994 genocide, in which an estimated 800 000 people, essentially Tutsis, were killed.

"The Simbikangwa judgement is a milestone for justice for perpetrators of the 1994 genocide," Rwanda's Justice Minister Johnston Busingye told AFP. "More particularly it is a redeemer of the French legal and judicial system, which had become synonymous with shielding genocide suspects from justice," he said, noting that there are a "few dozen indictments" sitting in the French justice system.

"Whether this trial was symbolic will be tested in the weeks and months ahead by what happens to those files," Busingye said. – Sapa

French court hands down first sentence for Rwandan genocide | Africa | Africa | Mail & Guardian

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Rwanda has long accused France of being reluctant to either extradite or prosecute Rwandans accused of having taken part in the 1994 genocide

so they wait for an outside country to take care of their mess?

let me get this straight.... they struggle for years to be free of colonial rule... they get it... they butcher each other... and then get pissy at the former colonial power for not cleaning up their mess?

Originally Posted by Pound Hound

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Rwanda has long accused France of being reluctant to either extradite or prosecute Rwandans accused of having taken part in the 1994 genocide

so they wait for an outside country to take care of their mess?

let me get this straight.... they struggle for years to be free of colonial rule... they get it... they butcher each other... and then get pissy at the former colonial power for not cleaning up their mess?

Ain't post-imperialism fun?

I first heard about this on the BBC World service, it took a week before the story made it to the local BBC news stations.

It's one thing to give freedom and democracy to savages, but they'll invariably remain savages.

Thought it was france and belguim, they spoke french and there relationship soured when francios mitterand was accused of being involved in the genocide?

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Originally Posted by Pound Hound

let me get this straight.... they struggle for years to be free of colonial rule

No. There was no struggle. There was a referendum.

Originally Posted by Pound Hound

they butcher each other

Yes. Always have done, since long before whitey arrived.

Originally Posted by Pound Hound

and then get pissy at the former colonial power for not cleaning up their mess?

No. Germany and Belgium are the former imperial powers in Rwanda.