International Rwanda court jails first woman for genocide
The UN court for Rwanda has sentenced Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, the first woman to be charged with genocide and incitement to rape before an international court, to life in prison.
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Nyiramasuhuko was found guilty on seven of the 11 genocide charges she faced. including conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide and "rape as a crime against humanity”.
Her son Arsène Shalom Ntahobali was also sentenced to life.
They were among seven people found to have been implicated in the genocide of Tutsis in the southern Rwandan region of Butare.
Also sentenced were:
- Former regional mayor Joseph Kanyabashi, 35 years;
- Another former regional mayor, Elie Ndayambaje, 35 years;
- Former prefect Sylvain Nsabimana, 25 years;
- His successor, Alphonse Nteziryayo, 30 years.
Although other women have been sentenced by Rwandan courts for their role in the 1994 genocide, Nyiramasuhuko, who was families minister in 1992-1993, is the first woman to be condemned by an international court.
She fled Rwanda for Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) after the victory of Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Popular Front. After several human rights groups accused her of involvement in atrocities, she was arrested in Kenya in 1997.
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