The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Group Prosecutes War Criminals Responsible for Genocide in Rwanda
Dec 18, 2008
Theoneste Bagosora is the latest war criminal to be felled as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) brings its judicial hammer down. Created by the United Nations Security Council on November 8, 1994, the ICTR was formed to seek prosecution of the individuals responsible for the genocide that took place in Rwanda over the course of one hundred days in 1994.
In the case of Theoneste Bagosora, justice was a very long time coming. Nearly fifteen years after he served as army colonel and head of the Interahamwe Hutu militia, Bagosora has finally been sentenced to life in prison.
Justice Finally Served
Since he was the highest ranking member of the Rwandan Ministry of Defense and held ultimate authority over all troops and militia, Theoneste Bagosora is widely considered the primary personal responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He has been called the "mastermind" and the "kingpin" behind the slaughter of approximately 800,000 citizens of Rwanda, accused of ordering the slaughter of minority Tutsis and sympathizing Hutus.
Bagosora was not alone in being prosecuted for war crimes in Rwanda; Sentenced along with him following a joint trial were General Gratien Kabiligi, who helmed the Rwandan army's military operations bureau (G-3) during the killings, Major Alos Ntabakuze, commander of the Para Commando Battalion, and Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, Operational Sector commander in Gisenyi.
The Rwanda Genocide of 1994
Under the leadership of these four men, close to one million civilians, including women and children were ruthlessly killed. Evidence produced at the trial showed that each man had at some point given direct orders to militia men to seek out civilians for murder, even going so far as to specifically target the suffering denizens of refugee camps.
The trial, which took more than six years to complete, featured the testimony of 242 witnesses, 160 of which testified for the prosecution. An American lawyer, Barbara Mulvaney, headed the prosecution team.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is actually located in Tanzania. In addition to prosecuting individuals for participating in the Rwanda genocide of 1994, the ICTR is still actively pursuing cases against soldiers who committed other types of violent crimes such as rape and assault. Such acts, according to the ICTR, fall under the judicial territory of war crimes since they targeted victims for being part of a particular racial or ethnic group.
Standing amongst those accused of war crimes in Rwanda are many ordinary Hutus, including doctors, pastors, and journalists.
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