skip to main content

Former Interior minister guilty of genocide

Rwanda - 800,000 murdered in 1994
Rwanda - 800,000 murdered in 1994

A former Rwandan interior minister has been given a 30 year sentence for the role he played in the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

The International Criminal Tribunal court in Dar es Salaam found Callixte Kalimanzira guilty of genocide and complicity to commit genocide.

Mr Kalimanzira, a close ally of the Rwandan President and Prime Minister in 1994, encouraged thousands of Tutsi civilians to take refuge at Kabuye Hill in Ndora with promises of food and protection, only for militias then to kill them in his presence.

He was also accused of seeking military and police reinforcements for the massacre.

800,000 Tutsis were murdered by Hutu militias in a 100 day massacre 15 years ago.

To this day, there are still recriminations over the International community's inability to prevent or stop the genocide, and over who exactly was to blame.

So far, there have been 38 trials by the International Criminal Tribunal investigating the Rwanda genocide.