Rwandan genocide suspect Sosthene Munyemana arrested in France

The arrest comes weeks after French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner made his first visit to Rwanda since diplomatic ties were restored in November. See reports here below.

Doctor wanted in Rwanda in genocide detained
From Associated Press via Taiwan News on Thursday, 21 January 2010:

Bordeaux police say they have detained a Rwandan doctor wanted by his homeland for allegedly playing a part in the 1994 genocide.

Sosthene Munyemana, who works as an emergency doctor, was freed under judicial control, meaning he must report to judicial officials until his appearance before a court that will decide his fate.

France rejected his asylum demand in 2008 and detained him Wednesday on an international arrest warrant. Rwanda wants the doctor extradited for his alleged role in the genocide.

Munyemana says he is innocent and has appealed the asylum decision.

An estimated 500,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were massacred in 100 days of frenzied killing led by radical Hutus.

Rwandan genocide suspect arrested in France
From BBC News at 07:51 GMT, Thursday, 21 January 2010:

A Rwandan doctor wanted on charges of genocide and war crimes has been arrested in France, police say.

Sosthene Munyemana, 45, who had been working in a hospital in Bordeaux for eight years, denies the charges.

His arrest on an extradition warrant from Rwanda comes weeks after France and Rwanda restored diplomatic ties.

France had rejected an asylum bid by him in 2008, saying there were "serious reasons" to suspect his involvement in war crimes in 1994, AFP reported.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the 100-day massacre in 1994.

Mr Munyemana was released on bail, but must report to judicial officials until a court date is set.

He had been on the Interpol list of wanted men for a few years.

Shooting down

The arrest comes weeks after French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner made his first visit to Rwanda since diplomatic ties were restored in November.

Relations between Paris and Kigali had been poor for several years but were severed in 2006 after a French judge accused President Paul Kagame and several senior officials of being behind the 1994 murder of Rwanda's Hutu President Juvenal Habyaremana.

The shooting down of his plane triggered the 1994 genocide.

Those suspected of being most responsible for the killings are being tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Arusha, Tanzania.

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Rwandan genocide suspect arrested in France AFP

Doctor wanted in Rwanda in genocide detained eTaiwan News

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Le médecin rwandais entendu à Bordeaux Sud Ouest

Un médecin rwandais soupçonné de génocide interpellé à Bordeaux nouvelobs.com

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Rwandan singer Simon Bikindine sentenced to 15 years in prison by ICTR

Good news. After being arrested seven years ago in the Netherlands, the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has sentenced Rwandan singer Simon Bikindine to 15 years in prison.

"Simon Bikindi used a public address system to state that the majority population, the Hutu, should rise up to exterminate the minority, the Tutsi," the judgement read.

"On his way back, Bikindi used the same system to ask if people had been killing Tutsi, who he referred to as snakes."

Source: December 02, 2008 report from the BBC - copy:

SINGER URGED RWANDANS TO GENOCIDE



Photo: Simon Bikindi founded a ballet company in Rwanda (AP/BBC)

One of Rwanda's most famous singers, Simon Bikindi, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for inciting violence during the 1994 genocide.

His conviction stems from a speech he made from a vehicle equipped with a public address system encouraging ethnic Hutus to kill Tutsis.

Prosecutors at the UN-backed tribunal based in Tanzania had called for the singer to be given a life sentence.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days.

In its judgement, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said that several of Bikindi's songs, which were widely broadcast in Rwanda at the time, had incited hatred against Tutsis.

However, the judges said the songs were written before the genocide and there was no evidence to suggest Bikindi had performed or played them in 1994.

'Snakes'

Bikindi was convicted for a speech he made in June 1994 on the main road between Kivumu and Kayove, in north-western Rwanda.

"Simon Bikindi used a public address system to state that the majority population, the Hutu, should rise up to exterminate the minority, the Tutsi," the judgement read.

"On his way back, Bikindi used the same system to ask if people had been killing Tutsi, who he referred to as snakes."

The BBC's Jamhuri Mwavyombo at the ICTR says his lawyers are considering whether to appeal against the sentence.

Bikindi was also a sports ministry official and founded Rwanda's Irindiro Ballet.

He was arrested seven years ago in the Netherlands.

The most high-profile genocide cases are being tried by ICTR in Arusha.

Since 1997, the ICTR has convicted 29 people and acquitted five.