Rwandan ex-doctor sentenced to 27 years for genocide complicity

A French court has sentenced Rwandan former doctor Eugene Rwamucyo to 27 years in prison for his involvement in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group. The Cour d’Assises de Paris found him guilty of “complicity in genocide,” “complicity in crimes against humanity,” and “conspiracy” to commit these crimes, while acquitting him of genocide and crimes against humanity charges. Rwamucyo, who denied the allegations during his trial, was accused of promoting anti-Tutsi propaganda and overseeing the burial of victims in mass graves in southern Rwanda’s Butare Prefecture. French prosecutors had sought a 30-year sentence. Genocide survivor Jean Pierre Gakwerere described the ruling as a positive step toward justice for victims. Rwamucyo, 65, was arrested in May 2010 and had previously been sentenced to life in absentia by a Rwandan court. This verdict follows a recent lawsuit by Rwandan genocide survivors against France, seeking $540 million in reparations, with a ruling expected on November 14. French President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged France’s responsibility in the genocide, stating that France and its allies “could have stopped” it but “lacked the will to do so.” Approximately 1 million people, primarily Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were killed in the genocide within 100 days.

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