\nArusha, October 19, 2011 (FH) - Former Youth Minister Callixte Nzabonimana, whose trial is expected to end Friday, was one of the few intellectuals from southern Rwanda who remained loyal until the end to the Habyarimana regime, even after the advent of multiparty politics in 1991 had turned the south into an opposition stronghold.\n<\/p>\n
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\nRound-faced, medium height and with the stocky build of a mountain dweller, Nzabonimana was born in 1953 in Nyabikenke (Gitarama prefecture, central Rwanda). His parents were peasants eking out a living on barren land.\n<\/p>\n
\nDespite his humble background, Nzabonimana achieved an impeccable academic record. After finishing secondary school, he was admitted to the University of Dijon (France) where he graduated in geology. Subsequently, he obtained a Ph.D. in geology at the Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (Nancy).\n<\/p>\n
\nAccording to his lawyer Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse, Nzabonimana could easily have found a job in the French mining industry. Yet he decided to return to Rwanda, where President Juvénal Habyarimana soon spotted him and made him Secretary General of the Presidency in 1984.\n<\/p>\n
\nFive years later, he became Planning Minister and, in 1990, he was appointed minister of Youth and Community Organization.\n<\/p>\n
\nWhen multiparty politics were legalized in June 1991, Nzabonimana stuck with the President's MRND party while most southern intellectuals joined opposition parties mushrooming in the south.\n<\/p>\n
\nHe was confirmed as Youth Minister in the first coalition government of national unity on April 16, 1992, and again in July 1993 in the second coalition government led by Agathe Uwilingiyimana.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe downing of President Habyarimana's plane over Kigali on April 6, 1994, was the spark that triggered the genocide. Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana was murdered the following day. Several MRND officials, including Nzabonima, sought refuge in the French embassy as large-scale massacres were being perpetrated in Kigali.\n<\/p>\n
\nOn April 9, 1994, Nzabonimana was sworn in as Youth Minister of the interim government under President Théodore Sindikubwabo and Prime Minister Jean Kambanda. Three days later, Kigali came under attack by Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels led by Paul Kagame. The interim government fled first to Gitarama (central Rwanda) and then on May 29 to the northwestern town of Gisenyi, on the border with Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).\n<\/p>\n
\nThe RPF took Kigali on July 4. Two weeks later the rebels also took Ruhengeri in the northwest and were preparing to march on Gisenyi. Members of the interim government fled into Zaire.\n<\/p>\n
\nFor Callixte Nzabonimana, this was the beginning of a long exile. Indicted by the ICTR in 2001 for genocide and crimes against humanity, he was on the run from international justice until February 18, 2008, when he was arrested in Kigoma, Tanzania.\n<\/p>\n
\nER\/GF\/JC \n<\/p>\n
\n© Hirondelle News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, October 19, 2011 (FH) - Former Youth Minister Callixte Nzabonimana, whose trial is expected to end Friday, was one of the few intellectuals from southern Rwanda who remained loyal until the end to the Habyarimana regime, even after the advent of multiparty politics in 1991 had turned the south into an opposition stronghold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-23889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n