Friday, June 24, 2011

Former Rwanda Minister Sentenced to Life

Ex-Rwanda minister sentenced to life

Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:46PM
presstv.ir

Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, a former Rwanda women's minister, has been sentenced to life in prison for her role in the country's 1994 genocide.

The UN court has concluded that during the Rwanda war, Nyiramasuhuko and her son helped abduct hundreds of ethnic Tutsis.

Her son -- a former militia leader -- has also been found guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Both have been sentenced to life in prison.

"She has been convicted for genocide and crimes against humanity, including extermination, rape and persecution," Reuters quoted International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) spokesman Danford Mpumilwa as saying.

Nyiramasuhuko served as Rwanda's former minister for family and women's affairs in 1994 -- during the mass killings.

The victims were then assaulted, raped and killed.

Some 800,000 Tutsi men, women and children were slaughtered during Rwanda's genocide which lasted over three months.

Judicial experts and critics have long complained about the slow pace of justice at the UN tribunal, based in Tanzania.

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