Octavian Ngenzi, 58, and Tito Barahira, 64, former mayors of Kabarondo in eastern Rwanda, were Wednesday  both sentenced to life in prison  by the Paris’ Cour d’Assises, in France.

They were found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity commited during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, in a verdict read at 19hrs40.

The Minister for Justice, Johnston Busingye, told The New Times that it was a good decision but: "The context makes us choose a cautious welcome”.

"It’s 22 years after the Genocide, 39 indictments seated in France, 15 extradition applications systematically denied on a strange brand of legal reasoning, 28 cases are pending before French courts, all initiated by the CPCR, not French Prosecution, the rate of three trials in 22 years seems to be a French specific phenomenon,’’ he said.

"France shelters probably the highest concentration, per capita, of genocidaires than any other country in Europe and the French state is itself yet to come to terms with the sad reality of its role in the Genocide,” added Busingye.

France-based Collectif des Parties Civiles pours le Rwanda (CPCR) is the rights group that has pushed – for nearly two decades – for Genocide fugitives in France to face justice.

"Anybody, however optimistic, would choose caution. It is a good but very little, very late decision, not capable of sending a clear message that French justice means business,” Busingye said.

Suspected mass Genocide suspects living freely in France include Agathe Kanziga, widow of former President Juvenal Habyarimana; Manasse Bigwenzare, a former judge; Sosthene Munyemana, nicknamed "the butcher of Tumba”; and Dr Eugene Rwamucyo, suspected of involvement in the Genocide in southern Rwanda.

Furthermore, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a Catholic priest accused of having a direct role in killings in parts of Kigali, including at the Ste Famille Church, was last year absolved by the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris.

This was interpreted by the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), as "a genuine judicial comedy tinted with denial” in the part of the French justice establishment.

Ngenzi and Barahira were accused of participating in the killings of Tutsi refugees at Kabarondo Catholic Church in April 1994.

Ngenzi was particularly accused of supervising the killing of over 1,200 people who had taken refuge in the church. Before his arrest in April, 2013, Barahira disguised himself by changing his name to Barahirwa.

Ngenzi was arrested in Mayotte islands in 2010. In 2013, the other was arrested in Toulouse, a city in southwestern France.

At the onset of the trial, Ibuka president Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, wished that the trial be expedited since evidence against the two was more than enough. After the verdict became public, Dusingizemungu welcomed it and thanked the prosecutors and the court for ‘‘a job well done.’’

Dusingizemungu said: "We also thank the many individuals who played a role in one way or another to help in this trial; including CPCR and the national prosecution’s office of Rwanda.

"France must continue in this path. They must hasten to arrest other Genocide suspects who still roam free, and the work of justice be expedited. The work done by the Paris’ Cour d’Assises is proof that it is possible.

"This country [France] must also finalise the law its lawmakers recently approved regarding curtailing genocide denial and revisionism.”

The French parliament recently passed a law banning the denial of the Armenian genocide and other crimes classifiable as being against humanity.

Dusingizemungu said the French legislation only focuses on the Armenian Genocide.

"It must be clearly indicated that it refers to all genocides acknowledged by the United Nations, including the Genocide committed against the Tutsi,” Dusingizemungu said.

France in March 2014 held its first Genocide trial, that of Pascal Simbikangwa, former intelligence chief of the regime that planned and executed the Genocide.

At the trial’s conclusion, prosecutors sought a life sentence but he was instead handed a 25-year prison sentence for genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity.

Simbikangwa appealed and the appeal hearing is set for October 25 to December 9 at the Cour d’Assises de Bobigny, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris.

 editorial@newtimes.co.rw