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: 11 September 2006
Jean Mpambara, the former Bourgmestre of Rukara commune, stood trial for his alleged role in a joint criminal enterprise that engaged in looting and killing in Gahini sector on April 7 and 8, 1994, an attack on Gahini Hosptial on April 9, and two attacks on Parish Church of Rukara resulting in the death of two thousand Tutsi civilians in a single night on April 12, 1994. The prosecution charged Mpambara with direct responsibility for genocide, complicity in genocide, and extermination as a crime against humanity.
In 2006, an ICTR Trial Chamber acquitted Mpambara on all charges, finding that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mpambara played a role in events for which he was charged or that he had the requisite intent to be involved with their commission.