Rwandan Pastor sentenced to life in prison for his role in 1994 genocide

Rwandan Pastor sentenced to life in prison for his role in 1994 genocide

By Dan Wooding, Founder of the ASSIST News Service

KIGALI, RWANDA (ANS – Dec. 30, 2015) -- Rwanda's High Court has sentenced a pastor to life in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide.

The court ruled that Pastor Jean Uwinkindi organized and participated in attacks on the minority Tutsi ethnic group.

The BBC said that some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by militias from the majority Hutu ethnic group.

“The 64-year-old Hutu pastor was the first genocide suspect to be sent back to Rwanda for trial by the Tanzanian-based UN tribunal,” stated the BBC story. “The tribunal shut down this month after sentencing 61 individuals and acquitting 14 others.

Uwinkindi - the former head of a Pentecostal church on the outskirts of the capital, Kigali - had opposed his transfer.

He said that he would not get a fair trial in Rwanda, where there is now a Tutsi-led government.

The BBC went on to say that his lawyers said he would “appeal” against the High Court's ruling.

“The court finds that there were killings of the Tutsi at Rwankeri and Kanzenze hills and that the attacks were led by Uwinkindi,” said Judge Kanyegeri Timothee, Reuters news agency reported.

The prosecution alleged that in investigations after the genocide, some 2,000 bodies were found near the church in Kanzenze, just outside Kigali, where Uwinkindi was pastor.

He was indicted in 2011 after he was arrested in 2010 in neighboring Uganda.

Another key suspect, Ladislas Ntaganzwa, who has a $5m US bounty on him, was arrested two weeks ago in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

100 days of Slaughter (From the BBC)

In just 100 days in 1994, some 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda by ethnic Hutu extremists. They were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of their ethnic origin.

Why did the Hutu militias want to kill the Tutsis?

About 85% of Rwandans are Hutus but the Tutsi minority has long dominated the country. In 1959, the Hutus overthrew the Tutsi monarchy and tens of thousands of Tutsis fled to neighboring countries, including Uganda. A group of Tutsi exiles formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which invaded Rwanda in 1990 and fighting continued until a 1993 peace deal was agreed.

On the night April 6, 1994 a plane carrying then President Juvenal Habyarimana, and his counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi - both Hutus - was shot down, killing everyone on board. Hutu extremists blamed the RPF and immediately started a well-organized campaign of slaughter. The RPF said the plane had been shot down by Hutus to provide an excuse for the genocide.

Did anyone try to stop it?

The UN and Belgium had forces in Rwanda but the UN mission was not given a mandate to stop the killing. A year after US troops were killed in Somalia, the US was determined not to get involved in another African conflict. The Belgians and most UN peacekeepers pulled out after 10 Belgian soldiers were killed. The French, who were allies of the Hutu government, sent a force to set up a supposedly safe zone but were accused of not doing enough to stop the slaughter in that area. Rwanda's current president has accused France of taking part in the massacres - a charge denied by Paris.

Why was it so vicious?

The BBC said that Rwanda has always been a tightly controlled society, organized like a pyramid from each district up to the top of government. The then governing party, MRND, had a youth wing called the Interahamwe, which was turned into a militia to carry out the slaughter. Weapons and hit-lists were handed out to local groups, who knew exactly where to find their targets.

The Hutu extremists set up radio stations and newspapers which broadcast hate propaganda, urging people to “weed out the cockroaches” meaning kill the Tutsis. The names of those to be killed were read out on radio. Even priests and nuns have been convicted of killing people, including some who sought shelter in churches.

How did it end?

The well-organized RPF, backed by Uganda's army, gradually seized more territory, until July 4, when its forces marched into the capital, Kigali. Some two million Hutus - both civilians and some of those involved in the genocide - then fled across the border into DR Congo, at that time called Zaire, fearing revenge attacks.

Human rights groups say the RPF killed thousands of Hutu civilians as they took power - and more after they went into DR Congo to pursue the Interahamwe. The RPF denies this. In DR Congo, thousands died from cholera, while aid groups were accused of letting much of their assistance fall into the hands of the Hutu militias.

What happened in DR Congo?

The genocide in Rwanda has directly led to two decades of unrest in DR Congo, which have cost the lives of an estimated five million people. Rwanda's government, now run by the RPF, has twice invaded DR Congo, accusing its much larger neighbor of letting the Hutu militias operate on its territory. Rwanda has also armed local Congolese Tutsi forces. In response, some locals have formed self-defense groups and the civilians of eastern DR Congo have paid the price.

What is Rwanda like now?

The BBC said that RPF leader and President, Paul Kagame, has been hailed for overseeing rapid economic growth in the tiny country. He has also tried to turn Rwanda into a technological hub and is very active on Twitter. But his critics say he does not tolerate dissent and several opponents have met unexplained deaths. Almost two million people were tried in local courts for their role in the genocide and the ring-leaders at a UN tribunal in neighboring Tanzania.

It is now illegal to talk about ethnicity in Rwanda - the government says this is to prevent more bloodshed but some say it prevents true reconciliation and is just putting a lid on tensions, which will only boil over again in the future.

The 'Purpose Driven Nation'

Pastor Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and author of the best-selling “The Purpose Drive Life”, has been deeply involved in bringing healing to Rwanda, and has announced that Rwanda has become the world’s first “Purpose Driven Nation.”

Photo captions: 1) Jean Uwinkindi is said to have organized and participated in attacks on minority Tutsis (Getty Image). 2) Shocking scene from the 1994 genocide (AFP).3) Some two million people fled into DR Congo (then Zaire) (AFP). 4) Pastor Rick Warren interviews Paul Kagame at Saddleback Church. 5) Dan Wooding.

Note: If you would like to help support the ASSIST News Service, please go to www.assistnews.net and click on the DONATE button to make your year-end tax-deductible gift (in the US), which will help us continue to bring you these important stories. If you prefer a check, please make it out to ASSIST and mail it to: PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, USA. Thank you.

About the writer: Dan Wooding, 75, is an award-winning author, broadcaster and journalist who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, and is now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 52 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the author of some 45 books and has two TV programs and one radio show in Southern California, and has reported widely for ANS from all over Africa.

** You may republish this and any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)