Munyemana was sentenced to life by Gacaca

HUYE – Sosthène Munyemana, a Genocide fugitive arrested in France, but later released on bail on Wednesday, this week, was tried in absentia and sentenced by Gacaca court in Tumba in Huye district to life imprisonment. Munyemana, gynecologist at the University Teaching Hospital in Butare in 1994, allegedly participated in killings at the hospital and in Tumba, a town suburb. “He was responsible for the death of Tutsi pregnant women at the hospital who were under his care. Many were denied treatment while many others died when giving birth,” said a Gacaca court source in Ngoma Sector. In the infamous ‘trial of doctors’ by the Gacaca court of Ngoma Sector last year, Dr Munyemana, together with nine others were found guilty of Genocide crimes committed at the hospital and subsequently sentenced to 30 years in jail. Other doctors that were convicted and sentenced are; Pascal Habarugira, Jean Népo Nsengiyumva, Séraphin Bararengana, Ignace Bigirimana, Pierre Mugabo, Alphonse Karemera, Bruno Ngirabatware, Geoffroy Gatera, and Charles Sijyeniyo, all these were handed varying jail terms ranging from 19-30 years. He is also alleged to have been at the forefront of killings in Tumba, a role which earned him the tag of “the butcher of Tumba”. Munyemana was a member of MDR-Power and a close friend to Jean Kambada, former Prime Minister during in the caretaker government of Rwanda from the start of the Genocide. Ends