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Rwanda genocide tribunal begins retrial of ex-army officer

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Wednesday began the retrial of former Rwandan army officer Tharcisse Muvunyi. In August, the ICTR quashed Muvunyi's 25-year prison sentence, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for his conviction on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. He now faces a retrial on a charge of inciting genocide. Prosecutors plan to present their case in three days and call five witnesses. Muvunyi is accused of participating in several public meetings during the months of April and May 1994, during which he and other local government officials allegedly called on the Hutu majority population to kill Tutsi civilians. Muvunyi, the former Commander of a Rwandan military school, was convicted in September 2006 for his role in the ethnic separation and subsequent killing of orphaned children and the killing of at least 140 students and Red Cross workers. The ICTR was established to try genocide suspects for crimes occurring during the 1994 Rwandan conflict between Hutus and Tutsis in which approximately 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis, died. In March, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon pledged his ongoing support for the ICTR and stressed that the international community must continue to combat genocide.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 17, 2009 (boomark / email).