Nyarubuye massacre

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The Nyarubuye massacre is the name which is given to the killing of an estimated 20,000 civilians on April 15, 1994 at the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church[1] in Kibungo Province, 140 km (87 mi) east of the Rwandan capital Kigali. The victims were Tutsis. Men, women, and children were reported to have been indiscriminately killed, with the attackers allegedly using spears, machetes, clubs, hand grenades and automatic weapons. Local Interahamwe, acting in concert with the authorities, used bulldozers to knock down the church building. The militia used machetes and rifles to kill every person who tried to escape.[2]

The massacre was part of the April–July 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi in which up to 1,000,000 people died.[1]

Trial and convictions[]

On 3 December 2003 a Rwandan court in Rukira, Kibungo found 18 people guilty of genocide crimes. Gitera Rwamuhizi, a leader of the group responsible for the killings, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and after pleading guilty the sentence was dropped to 25 years.[1] The rest were sentenced to terms ranging from 7 to 16 years.

The mayor of Rusumo, Sylvestre Gacumbitsi, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity (for rape and extermination) by the trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2004, and sentenced to life imprisonment.[3]

Local priest Athanase Seromba was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by the ICTR for his role in the demolition of his church; he was convicted of the crime of genocide and crimes against humanity.[2][4][5]

Aftermath[]

In the aftermath of the massacre, the location was visited by BBC journalist Fergal Keane who made the story internationally known. One girl he met at a nearby hospital was 13-year-old Valentina Iribagiza who had seen her family killed and survived in the church for more than 43 days before being rescued. Three years later Keane went back to interview her, and the documentary "Valentina's Nightmare: A Journey into the Genocide Against The Tutsi" was broadcast in the series Frontline in April 1997.[6] She was also featured in the Frontline documentary "Ghosts of Rwanda" [7] which was broadcast in 2004, marking the 10th anniversary of the massacre.

The church and houses of the nuns and priest where the victims took refuge are home to the Nyarubuye Genocide Memorial Site.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "18 confess to Rwandan genocide". News24. 2003-12-03. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Appeals Chamber Decisions". International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  3. ^ Gacumbitsi, Sylvestre The Hague Justice Portal. Retrieved 18 October 2016)
  4. ^ "Catholic Priest Athanase Seromba Sentenced to Fifteen Years" (Press release). International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. 13 December 2006. Archived from the original on 1 October 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Prosecutor to Appeal Against Seromba's Sentence" (Press release). International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. 22 December 2006. Archived from the original on 5 May 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
  6. ^ fergal Keane (The Rwandan Girl Who Refused to Die PBS.1997
  7. ^ Ephgrave, Nicole M., "Sexual Violence at Nyarubuye: History, Justice, Memory. A Case Study of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi"(2015.Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository.Paper 3335.page 39

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