The Military High Court in Kanombe yesterday upheld the ruling by the Military Tribunal, ordering the temporary detention of the four officers  of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF).

The officers who were arrested in connection with the killing of catholic clergy in Kabgayi  in 1994,had appealed a ruling by the Military Tribunal which had ordered that they be held in temporary detention for the course of their trial.

The officers are Brig. Gen. Wilson Gumisiriza, Maj Wilson Ukwishaka, Capt John Butera and Capt (Rtd) Dieudonnee Rukeba.

"They will remain in temporary detention pending further investigation for 30 days, beginning from the time of the ruling,” ruled Brig. Gen. John Peter Bagabo.

Both Butera and Rukeba have pleaded guilty of having a hand in the killing of the 15 clergymen who were found at the diocese of Kabgayi in the Southern Province.

Apart from the two who pleaded guilty, Gumisiriza and Ukwishaka have pleaded not guilty of complicity to murder as a war crime. They were commanders in the 157 Brigade which was operating in the area.

Gumisiriza maintains that at the time of the clergymen’s killing, he was deployed far from the scene of the crime.

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