Paris – The Cour d’assises de Paris is set to commence the trial of Dr. Sosthene Munyemana, the seventh Rwandan to be tried in France for his alleged involvement in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, as reported by Aurore Teta Ufitiwabo for New Times. The proceedings, beginning today, November 14, 2023, focus on Munyemana’s purported role in the massacres in Tumba, a locality in present-day Huye town, southern Rwanda.
According to Ghana News Agency, Munyemana, 68, a Hutu and a practicing gynecologist at the university hospital at the time of the genocide, is accused of being a key figure in the atrocities in Tumba, earning him the moniker ‘butcher of Tumba.’ His trial in France follows those of several other alleged perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, some of whom have been located and sentenced in France after hiding in various countries globally.
The Rwandan genocide, which took place between April 7 and July 15, 1994, saw the systematic massacre of members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, along with moderate Hutu and Twa, by armed Hutu militias. This period of approximately 100 days marked one of the most brutal chapters in recent history.
Additionally, the French Court of Appeal, in June 2023, called for an investigation into the alleged inaction of the French military during the Bisesero massacres, which occurred during the genocide. This development highlights ongoing efforts to address the international aspects of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.