The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, yesterday, handed a life sentence to the former military officer Ildephonse Nizeyimana.
He was convicted of killing thousands of Tutsi, including Queen Rosalie Gicanda, the widow of King Mutara Rudahigwa III.
Nizeyimana was found guilty of other charges, including extermination and murder as crimes against humanity.
The tribunal, however, found the former military officer not guilty of murder as a war crime and rape as a crime against humanity.
"Having considered the gravity of the crimes for which Nizeyimana has been convicted, as well as all the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the Chamber has the discretion to impose a single sentence and chooses to do so,"
"Considering the relevant circumstances, the Chamber sentences Ildéphonse Nizeyimana to life imprisonment," Presiding Judge Lee Muthoga ruled.
The chamber found Nizeyimana guilty of killing of members of the Ruhutinyanya family, the attack on Cyahinda Parish, the killing of Rosalie Gicanda and others taken from her home, and the killing of Pierre Claver Karenzi at the Hotel Faucon roadblock.
He was also found guilty of genocide for ordering the killings of Remy Rwekaza and Beata Uwambaye at the Gikongoro and Kigali roads junction roadblock as well as the serious bodily harm caused to Witness ZAV at the same barrier.
The chamber ruled that in accordance with Rules 102 (A) and 103, Nizeyimana shall remain in the custody of the tribunal pending transfer to the state where he will serve his sentence.
Nizeyimana, commonly referred to as the "Queen Killer", was arrested in 2009 in Uganda through joint efforts of Interpol and Ugandan Police who had tracked him from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The New Times
