[JURIST] The Catholic Church in Rwanda on Sunday issued an apology for its role in the Rwandan Genocide in a statement read aloud to parishioners. The Church acknowledged [Al Jazeera report] that many members engaged in wrongdoing, including the planning, aiding and execution of innocent people in Rwanda and also acknowledged that many were slain in the churches in which they took refuge. The Church stated [Catholic Herald report], “[w]e apologize for all the wrongs the church committed. We apologize on behalf of all Christians for all forms of wrongs we committed. We regret that church members violated [their] oath of allegiance to God’s commandments.”

In May two former Rwandan mayors went on trial [JURIST report] in the Assize Court of Paris on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In January the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) formally closed [JURIST report] after issuing 45 judgments. In September of last year a court in Toulouse, France, refused extradition requests [JURIST report] for Joseph Habyarimana, a Rwandan man facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. In January of last year two Rwandan police officers were sentenced [JURIST report] to 20 years in jail for the murder of a Transparency International anti-corruption activist. In July 2014 the ICTR unanimously affirmed [JURIST report] a 30-year jail sentence for former army chief Augustin Bizimungu for the role he played in the genocide. In December 2012 the ICTR convicted [JURIST report] former Rwandan minister Augustin Ngirabatware, sentencing him to 35 years in prison on charges of genocide, incitement to commit genocide and rape as a crime against humanity.