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Paris Court Upholds 24-Year Term for Sosthène Munyemana in Rwanda Genocide Case

The ruling caps a decades-long French prosecution built on testimony and records from the Butare massacres.

Overview

  • The Paris appeals court on October 23 confirmed a 24-year prison sentence for the former Rwandan doctor for his role in the 1994 genocide.
  • Judges upheld convictions for genocide and for participation in an agreement to prepare that crime, and they declined the prosecutor’s request for life imprisonment.
  • The court did not reimpose the eight-year safety period set at first instance and acquitted him of crimes against humanity and related complicity counts, according to a judicial source.
  • Prosecutors cited his signature on a pro–interim government motion, his alleged control of a key to a room where Tutsis were confined, and his involvement in barriers and patrols in Tumba.
  • Munyemana, who has lived and worked as a physician in France for years, denies involvement and claims political targeting, while victims’ advocates from the CPCR say the verdict advances accountability.