Dr. Casimir Bizimungu is a former Rwanda

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 politician.

A former medical doctor, Bizimungu holds a Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 and an M.D.

Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

 from American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 universities.

He held several portfolios in the MRND

Mouvement républicain national pour la démocratie et le développement

National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana. It was dominated by Hutus, particularly from President Habyarimana's home region of Northern Rwanda...

 government of Juvénal Habyarimana

Juvénal Habyarimana

Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...

 until July 1994. From 1989 to 1992 he was Foreign Minister, and from 9 April to 14 July 1994, during 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...

, he was Minister of Health in the interim government.

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) issued an indictment against him and three other ministers, accusing them of conspiracy in genocide, genocide, direct and public incitement to genocide, and crimes against humanity. .

Bizimungu was arrested on 11 February 1999 at his home in Hurlingham , near Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. On 23 February 1999 he was transferred to the custody of the ICTR.

His trial by the ICTR in Arusha

Arusha

Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania. It is the capital of the Arusha Region, which claims a population of 1,288,088, including 281,608 for the Arusha District . Arusha is surrounded by some of Africa's most famous landscapes and national parks...

, Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

 has been ongoing since 6 November 2003, and will resume on 20 March 2006. Bizimungu is being tried along with several other former government ministers: Jerome Bicamumpaka

Jérôme Bicamumpaka

Jérôme Bicamumpaka is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Rwanda's Interim Government. He was officially in office from April 1994 until July 1994, but fled the country in July 1994, and was arrested in Cameroon in 1999 on charges of conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, complicity in...

 (foreign minister), Justin Mugenzi (minister of commerce), and Prosper Mugiraneza

Prosper Mugiraneza

Prosper Mugiraneza is the former minister of civil service in Rwanda.Mugiraneza was born in 1957 in Kigarama, Kibungo Province, Rwanda. He is a graduate of the National University of Rwanda in Butare, where he earned a law degree....

 (minister of civil service).

On 30 September 2011, Casimir Bizimungu was acquitted of all charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and immediately released from custody.

External links

• Trial Watch: Casimir Bizimungu
• Publications of Casimir Bizimungu, from PubMed
  PubMed
  PubMed is a free database accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health maintains the database as part of the Entrez information retrieval system...