Former Rwanda Mayor Convicted of 1994 Church Massacre
A former Rwandan mayor was convicted Thursday of failing to stop the genocide of close to 2,000 people at a church in 1994, and was handed a prison term of 15 years.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda said Gregory Ndahimana’s presence was enough to incite police to attack the church in Nyange and bury the thousands of people who barricaded themselves inside.
Persecutors initially tried to prove the mayor gave a direct order to destroy the church and even opened fire to start the killings, but not enough evidence could be gathered to convict him of those charges, according to AFP International News.
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During the 1994 massacre, close to 800,000 people, or almost 20 percent of the population, was slaughtered in the East African country. The conflict concerned Hutu and Tutsi groups that struggled for political control over the nation.
The 1994 war began when Rwanda president Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane was shot down, and it led to violent attacks by Hutu groups that committed mass genocide against the Tutsis. War rape was also a widespread problem, with thousands of women and girls sexually assaulted on a regular basis by armed Hutu soldiers.
The Rwandan government at the time was accused of supporting and even encouraging the killings. Other government officials, besides Ndahimana, were also convicted of directly participating or not doing enough to stop the crimes.
The majority of Rwandans are reported to be Catholics, and although the Catholic Church admitted the genocides took place in the country, it has argued that it was not involved and gave no permission for such acts to be carried out.
Both Hutu and Tutsis groups are considered to have large amounts of Catholic members, but the shared beliefs and religion made no difference in the massacres.
Since the 1994 genocide, the Muslim population is reported to have more than doubled.
