Athanase Seromba
Encyclopedia
Athanase Seromba is a Rwanda
n priest who was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in the Rwandan genocide
.
http://69.94.11.53/ENGLISH/cases/Seromba/index.htm
At the time of the genocide, Seromba was priest of a Catholic
parish at Nyange in the Kibuye
province of western Rwanda. He was charged for the deaths of around 2,000 Tutsis who took refuge in his parish church. According to the charges brought against him, Seromba ordered his church to be bulldozed on April 6 1994, and then shot some survivors.
Seromba fled Rwanda in July 1994, and later moved to Italy and continued working as a priest for the Catholic Church near the city of Florence using the alias Anastasio Sumba Bura. Under pressure from Carla Del Ponte
, the then Chief UN War Crimes Prosecutor, Seromba surrendered himself to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) on February 6, 2002. On February 8, 2002 he pleaded not guilty to the charges of genocide
, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. His trial began on September 20, 2004 before the Third Trial Chamber of the ICTR. On 13 December 2006, he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
http://69.94.11.53/ENGLISH/cases/Seromba/index.htm
Seromba and the Prosecution appealed the verdict. http://69.94.11.53/ENGLISH/cases/Seromba/appealchamber.htm On 12 March 2008, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) decided his responsibility was even greater than previously found, affirmed his conviction, and increased his sentence to a life sentence.
On 27 June 2009, Seromba was transferred to Benin
. Seromba is serving his life sentence at Akpro-Missérété prison at Port-Novo, Benin.
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n priest who was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in the Rwandan genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
.
http://69.94.11.53/ENGLISH/cases/Seromba/index.htm
At the time of the genocide, Seromba was priest of a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
parish at Nyange in the Kibuye
Kibuye
Kibuye is a city in Karongi district, and the capital of Western Province in Rwanda. The city lies on the eastern shore of Lake Kivu, about halfway down, and between Gisenyi and Cyangugu. It is known as a beach resort and is home to a genocide memorial marking the massacre of 90% of the town's...
province of western Rwanda. He was charged for the deaths of around 2,000 Tutsis who took refuge in his parish church. According to the charges brought against him, Seromba ordered his church to be bulldozed on April 6 1994, and then shot some survivors.
Seromba fled Rwanda in July 1994, and later moved to Italy and continued working as a priest for the Catholic Church near the city of Florence using the alias Anastasio Sumba Bura. Under pressure from Carla Del Ponte
Carla Del Ponte
Carla Del Ponte is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in August...
, the then Chief UN War Crimes Prosecutor, Seromba surrendered himself to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
(ICTR) on February 6, 2002. On February 8, 2002 he pleaded not guilty to the charges of genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. His trial began on September 20, 2004 before the Third Trial Chamber of the ICTR. On 13 December 2006, he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
http://69.94.11.53/ENGLISH/cases/Seromba/index.htm
Seromba and the Prosecution appealed the verdict. http://69.94.11.53/ENGLISH/cases/Seromba/appealchamber.htm On 12 March 2008, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) decided his responsibility was even greater than previously found, affirmed his conviction, and increased his sentence to a life sentence.
On 27 June 2009, Seromba was transferred to Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
. Seromba is serving his life sentence at Akpro-Missérété prison at Port-Novo, Benin.
See also
- Emmanuel RukundoEmmanuel RukundoEmmanuel 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 for his participation in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide....
- Wenceslas MunyeshyakaWenceslas MunyeshyakaFather Wenceslas Munyeshyaka is a Rwandan Roman Catholic priest who was found guilty of involvement in the Rwandan genocide.A military tribunal in Rwanda has found a Catholic priest, resident in France, guilty of rape and involvement in the 1994 genocide and sentenced him in absentia to life in...
- Grégoire NdahimanaGregoire NdahimanaGrégoire Ndahimana is the former mayor of Kivumu, Rwanda. Indicted and arrested for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , 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...
- Elizaphan NtakirutimanaElizaphan NtakirutimanaElizaphan Ntakirutimana was a pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Rwanda and was the first clergyman to be convicted for a role in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide....