Rwandan mayor jailed for genocide

DAR ES SALAAM – A former Rwandan mayor was jailed for 30 years yesterday for his role in the country’s genocide of 800 000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus, a UN court spokesman said.

A three-judge panel convicted Sylvestre Gacumbitsi, 57, on one count of genocide and two counts of crimes against humanity. During the trial, witnesses testified that the former mayor of Rusumo commune handed out weapons to extremist Interahamwe Hutu militias and encouraged them to rape Tutsi women.”He has been found guilty.It was a unanimous verdict,” said Roland Amoussouga, a spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).The court acquitted Gacumbitsi, who showed no emotion during the sentencing, of complicity in genocide and murder.The ICTR is trying the suspected masterminds of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, in which extremists from the Hutu majority butchered 800 000 people in 100 days of slaughter.Gacumbitsi’s conviction brings to 19 the number of people convicted by the ICTR.The UN court, based in the northern town of Arusha, has indicted 81 people for genocide-related crimes.Its nine full-time judges have acquitted three.- Nampa-ReutersDuring the trial, witnesses testified that the former mayor of Rusumo commune handed out weapons to extremist Interahamwe Hutu militias and encouraged them to rape Tutsi women.”He has been found guilty.It was a unanimous verdict,” said Roland Amoussouga, a spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).The court acquitted Gacumbitsi, who showed no emotion during the sentencing, of complicity in genocide and murder.The ICTR is trying the suspected masterminds of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, in which extremists from the Hutu majority butchered 800 000 people in 100 days of slaughter.Gacumbitsi’s conviction brings to 19 the number of people convicted by the ICTR.The UN court, based in the northern town of Arusha, has indicted 81 people for genocide-related crimes.Its nine full-time judges have acquitted three.- Nampa-Reuters