Augustin Bizimungu

Last updated
Augustin Bizimungu
Born (1952-08-28) 28 August 1952 (age 71)
Byumba préfecture, Mukaranje Commune, Mugina Secteur, Nyange Cellule, Rwanda
AllegianceFlag of Rwanda (1962-2001).svg  Rwanda
Service/branch Rwandan Army
RankMajor general
Commands heldChief of Staff of the Rwandan Army [1]
Known forKey perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide
Battles/wars Rwanda Civil War
War criminal information
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Conviction(s)
Criminal penalty30 years in prison
Date apprehended
August 2002

Augustin Bizimungu (born 28 August 1952) is a Rwandan convicted war criminal and former general of the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR). On 16 April 1994, at the start of the genocide against the Tutsi, he was appointed chief of staff of the army and promoted to the rank of major general. [1] [2] In 2011, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the Rwandan genocide.

Biography

Bizimungu was born in Byumba préfecture, Mukarange Commune, Mugina Secteur, Nyange Cellule, Rwanda. [1]

An ethnic Hutu, Bizimungu held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the FAR on 6 April 1994. Some days later, in the wake of Déogratias Nsabimana's death alongside Juvénal Habyarimana, Bizimungu was promoted to major general and appointed as chief of staff of the Rwandan Army of the FAR, replacing Marcel Gatsinzi. [3] [4]

Upon fleeing the country following the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) victory, he reportedly declared that "The RPF will rule over a desert." [5]

On 12 April 2002, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued an arrest warrant for Bizimungu, who was apparently working with the Angolan rebel movement UNITA. In August 2002, he was arrested by the Angolan government and taken to the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in Tanzania. [6] The trial adjourned until September 2008, whereupon Bizimungu was tried along with fellow FAR officers Augustin Ndindiliyimana (Chief of Staff of the National Gendarmerie), François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye (Commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion of the Rwandan Army) and Innocent Sagahutu (Second-in-Command of the Reconnaissance Battalion of the Rwandan Army). [7] Bizimungu was sentenced to thirty years in prison for his part in the genocide on 17 May 2011. [8]

Bizimungu is portrayed by Fana Mokoena in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda</span> 1994 court of the United Nations Security Council

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to adjudicate people charged for the Rwandan genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan citizens in nearby states, between 1 January and 31 December 1994. The court eventually convicted 61 individuals and acquitted 14.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rwandan genocide</span> 1994 genocide in Rwanda

The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred between 7 April and 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias. Although the Constitution of Rwanda states that more than 1 million people perished in the genocide, the actual number of fatalities is unclear, and some estimates suggest that the real number killed was likely lower. The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 800,000 Tutsi deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasteur Bizimungu</span> President of Rwanda from 1994 to 2000

Pasteur Bizimungu is a Rwandan politician who served as the third President of Rwanda, holding office from 19 July 1994 until 23 March 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Théoneste Bagosora</span> Rwandan military officer (1941–2021)

Théoneste Bagosora was a Rwandan military officer. He was chiefly known for his key role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). In 2011, the sentence was reduced to 35 years' imprisonment on appeal. He was due to be imprisoned until he was 89. According to René Lemarchand, Bagosora was "the chief organizer of the killings". On 25 September 2021, he died in a prison hospital in Mali, where he was being treated for heart issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines</span> Radio station in the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993, to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role in inciting the Rwandan genocide that took place from April to July 1994, and has been described by some scholars as having been a de facto arm of the Hutu government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Initial events of the Rwandan genocide</span>

The assassination of presidents Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira in the evening of April 6, 1994 was the proximate trigger for the Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the murder of approximately 800,000 Tutsi and a smaller number of moderate Hutu. The first few days following the assassinations included a number of key events that shaped the subsequent course of the genocide. These included: the seizing of power by an interim government directed by the hard-line Akazu clique; the liquidation of opposition Hutu politicians; the implementation of plans to carry out a genocide throughout the country; and the murder of United Nations peacekeepers, contributing to the impulse of the international community to refrain from intervention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Nyiramasuhuko</span> Rwandan politician

Pauline Nyiramasuhuko is a Rwandan politician who was the Minister for Family Welfare and the Advancement of Women. She was convicted of having incited troops and militia to carry out rape during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. She was tried for genocide and incitement to rape as part of the "Butare Group" at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. In June 2011, she was convicted of seven charges and sentenced to life imprisonment. Nyiramasuhuko is the first woman to be convicted of genocide by the ICTR, and the first woman to be convicted of genocidal rape.

Léon Mugesera is a convicted genocidaire from Rwanda who took residence in Quebec, Canada. He was deported from Canada for an inflammatory anti-Tutsi speech which his critics allege was a precursor to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In 2016, he was convicted of incitement to genocide and sentenced to life in prison.

Simon Bikindi was a Rwandan singer-songwriter who was formerly very popular in Rwanda. His patriotic songs were playlist staples on the national radio station Radio Rwanda during the war from October 1990 to July 1994 before the Rwandan Patriotic Front took power. For actions during the April 1994 genocide against Tutsi, he was tried and convicted for incitement to genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 2008. He died of diabetes at a Beninese hospital in late 2018.

Georges Henri Yvon Joseph Ruggiu is a Belgian radio presenter who worked for Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, which played a significant role in promoting the genocide against the Tutsi. Like the station's other broadcasters, Ruggiu incited violence against Tutsi and moderate Hutu over the air. He had become involved in Rwandan politics just two years before the genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hassan Ngeze</span> Rwandan journalist and convicted war criminal

Hassan Ngeze is a Rwandan journalist and convicted war criminal best known for spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda and Hutu superiority through his newspaper, Kangura, which he founded in 1990. Ngeze was a founding member and leadership figure in the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), a Rwandan Hutu Power political party that is known for helping to incite the genocide.

Athanase Seromba is a Catholic priest from Rwanda who was found guilty of committing genocide and of crimes against humanity during the Rwandan genocide.

Tharcisse Renzaho is a Rwandan soldier, former politician and war criminal. He is best known for his role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protais Mpiranya</span> Rwandan soldier (born 1960)

Protais Mpiranya, also known as Sambao Ndume, was a Rwandan war criminal who was internationally wanted for his alleged role in the Rwandan genocide. Regarded as Rwanda's most wanted fugitive, he was described in 2022 as "one of the world’s most brutal killers", and was internationally recognised as the most sought génocidaire.

Augustin Ndindiliyimana is a former Rwandan General and Chief of the Rwandan National Gendarmerie. He was convicted of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda but he was acquitted by the tribunal upon appeal.

Innocent Sagahutu is a former Rwandan soldier, who is chiefly known for his role in the Rwandan genocide.

François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye is a former Rwandan soldier, who is chiefly known for his role in the Rwandan genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira</span> 1994 shootdown in Kigali, Rwanda

On the evening of 6 April 1994, the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, both Hutu, was shot down with surface-to-air missiles as their jet prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda; both were killed. The assassination set in motion the Rwandan genocide, one of the bloodiest events of the late 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grégoire Ndahimana</span>

Grégoire Ndahimana is the former mayor of Kivumu, Rwanda. Indicted and arrested for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Ndahimana is thought to be one of the key figures in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and is claimed to have had up to 6,000 Tutsi killed. In 2013, he was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Emmanuel Rukundo is a Rwandan Roman Catholic priest who, in 2009, was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for his participation in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Indictment against Bizimungu" (PDF). ICTR.
  2. ↑ "ICTR press release about Bizimungu". ICTR. 15 August 2002.
  3. ↑ Dallaire, Roméo. "Ch. 11: To Go or To Stay?". Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda . pp. 292–293.
  4. ↑ Des Forges, Alison (March 1999). Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda – Extending the Genocide → Removing Dissenters. New York: Human Rights Watch. ISBN   1-56432-171-1.
  5. ↑ Vesperini, Helen (2002-08-15). "Rwanda's 'genocide general'". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
  6. ↑ "Rwanda's genocide court to try 'big fish'". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. 15 August 2002.
  7. ↑ "Augustin Bizimungu". Trial Watch. Archived from the original on 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  8. ↑ "Genocide against the Tutsi: Ex-army chief given 30-year sentence". BBC News. 2011-05-17. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.