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Authors

Samuel Totten

Abstract

The headline of the 21 July 2007 edition of the New Times (billed as ‘‘Rwanda’s First Daily’’) reads, ‘‘Genocidaires Munyeshyaka, Bucyibaruta Are Finally Arrested.’’ In the article itself, journalist James Munyaneza reports the following: Munyeshyaka, who was until his arrest an active priest, was last November sentenced by Rwanda’s Military Tribunal to life imprisonment in absentia for his role in the slaughter of over 200 people at St[e]. Famille Parish, St. Paul Pastoral Centre and CELA [Centre for the Teaching of African Languages] in Kigali during the 1994 Genocide. Rwanda has for the last decade been calling on France to apprehend Genocide suspects on her territory, so did the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) last month. . . . The two men [Munyeshyaka and Laurent Bucyibaruta] have been arrested a month after the ICTR prosecution transferred their cases to Paris, implying that they will most likely be prosecuted in France. However, what remains unclear is whether Paris will extradite Munyeshyaka to Rwanda to serve his life sentence since he is already a convict. According to an ICTR charge sheet, Munyeshyaka, 49, is charged with genocide and three crimes against humanity (rape, extermination and murder). (2)

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