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: 05 July 2010; Appeal Judgment: 28 September 2011
Yussuf Munyakazi, a landowner and farmer in Bugarama Commune in Cyangugu Prefecture, stood trial for his role, as part of a joint criminal enterprise, in the deaths of several thousand Tutsi civilians in Shangi Parish, Mibilizi Parish, and Nyamasheke Parish in 1994. The Prosecution charged Munyakazi with direct responsibility for genocide, complicity in genocide, and extermination as a crime against humanity.
In 2010, an ICTR Trial Chamber found Munyakazi guilty of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity for leading killings Shangi Parish and Mibilizi Parish, but found that Munyakazi was not part of a joint criminal enterprise and that Munyakazi did not take part in the killings at Nyamasheke. In 2011, the ICTR Appeals Chamber affirmed Munyakazi’s convictions for genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. The Appeals Chamber affirmed Munyakazi’s 25-year sentence.