JURIST - Paper Chase: Rwanda genocide tribunal sentences former military captain to life

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] on Tuesday sentenced [judgment, PDF] the former captain at the Butare military academy, Ecole des Sous-Officiers, to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for violence perpetrated in Butare prefecture. After 54 trial days of evidence, testimonies of 84 witnesses and 130 decisions, the court rendered its decision six months after the closing arguments. Ildephonse Nizeyimana [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was found guilty of ordering soldiers to kill Tutsi civilians and rape Tutsi women during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder; JURIST news archive], killing Tutsi queen Rosalie Gicanda, murdering a former Butare deputy prosecutor and killing members of the Ruhutinyanya family. The court also dismissed several charges of sexual violence, training and distribution of weapons, and attacks on Butare University Hospital.

Nizeyimana, known as the "Butcher of Butare," went on trial [JURIST report] in January 2011. He had pleaded not guilty in October 2009, a week after he was arrested [JURIST reports].