08.06.10 - RWANDA/GENOCIDE - FORMER MAJOR HABYARABATUMA SENTENCED TO LIFE IN JAIL

8 June 2010 By

Kigali, June 8, 2010 (FH) - Major Cyriaque Habyarabatuma, who was commanding Butare Prefecture's gendarmerie in 1994, was sentenced on Monday to life in jail by a military court in Butare after being found guilty of participating to the genocide.

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According to the judgment, he was convicted for massacres of Tutsis who had sought refuge at Cyahinda Parish in 1994.

Human rights activists requesting to stay anonymous told Hirondelle News agency that the court's conclusions were that the killings had been committed by gendarmes sent by Habyarabatuma.

During his trial, General Marcel Gatsinzi and General Paul Rwarakabije both attested to the fact that the defendant was actually suspected by his hierarchy of being close to the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).

Cyriaque Habyarabatuma, aged 55 and the father of three, hails from former Gikongoro prefecture (South of Rwanda).

In July 1994, he had fled to Zaire before returning to Rwanda in 1995 to join the National Police. He worked there until his arrest in 2004.

SRE/ER/GF