This case summary is part of a collection of summaries describing the cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). See the Online Resource Hub pages on the ICTR and International Criminal Law, and table of ICTR case summaries for additional information.
Trial Judgment: 1 November 2010; Appeal Judgment: 8 May 2012
Gaspard Kanyarukiga, a businessman and pharmacy owner in Nyange Secteur in Kibuye Prefecture, stood trial for his role, individually and as a member of a joint criminal enterprise, in attacks in Kivumu Commune, Kibuye Prefecture. The prosecution charged Kanyarukiga with direct responsibility for genocide, complicity in genocide, and extermination as a crime against humanity.
In 2010, an ICTR Trial Chamber convicted Kanyarukiga of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity after finding that Kanyarukiga planned, ordered, and instigated the bulldozing of a Church housing Tutsi refugees, resulting in the death of 2,000 civilians. In 2012, the ICTR Appeals Chamber dismissed both Kanyarukiga’s and the prosecution’s appeal in their entirety. The Appeals Chamber upheld the Trial Chamber’s sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment.