WESTERN PROVINCE NYAMASHEKE—A Gacaca Court in Nyamasheke District has sentenced three men including two priests to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of Genocide. They are Father Theodore Munyengabe, 50, Father Aime Mategeko, 46, and Jean Bimenyimana alias Gakuru, 51 were sentenced last week, the latter in absentia. During the court proceedings that took place in Shangi sector, Munyengabe, a former sous prefect (deputy prefect) of former Cyangugu province was accused of attending meetings that planned the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Shangi area. He is also accused of actively taking part in the killing of over 5,000 Tutsi who had sought refuge at Shangi Catholic Church on April 29,1994. One witnesses further accused him of killing Claude Ruzindana and Gratian Rwivugintwari, both former residents of the same sector. While reading the verdict before a fully packed court room, the president of Gihundwe A Gacaca Court said there was evidence beyond any reasonable doubt that Munyengabe participated in the massacres. “Basing on evidence given by some Genocide survivors and witnesses during the hearing, this court has found you guilty of participating in the killing of many people in this sector. This court has therefore sentenced you to life imprisonment because you really deserve it according to the rules and regulations that govern Gacaca,” the court president read from the verdict. Father Mategeko, a former priest at Hanika Catholic Church in Shangi is accused of transporting many Tutsi from Shangi to Cyangugu stadium from where many of them were killed by Interahamwe militias. He is also accused of having made up lists of Tutsi to be killed in Shangi sector. Witnesses said Bimenyimana, a former judge in Shangi sector, also attended several meetings that planned the Genocide in the area. To further corroborate the evidence given in court, some Genocide convicts who are currently jailed at Cyangugu central prison also testified that they worked with Bimenyimana during the Genocide to hunt down several of their victims. Shortly after the ruling, Genocide survivors who attended the proceedings expressed satisfaction with the verdicts. The trio was tried in the first category. Ends
