In a decision handed down Thursday afternoon, Venant Rutunga, former director of a Research institute, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide. This ruling comes over three years after his extradition from the Netherlands. And two years following the commencement of his trial in Rwanda.
The Special Chamber of the High Court for International Crimes, located in Nyanza, convicted Rutunga of genocide complicity, particularly for his involvement in calling in gendarmes who participated in the massacres at ISAR Rubona, an agricultural research institute in southern Rwanda. During the genocide, Rutunga, then Regional Director, allowed over a thousand refugees to seek shelter at the institute, only to later invite the military and Interahamwe militia to the site.
The court did not find Rutunga guilty of additional charges related to genocide and crimes against humanity. This outcome surprised Philibert Gakwenzire, President of the Ibuka survivors’ association, who had anticipated a broader conviction. Nevertheless, Gakwenzire acknowledged that the Rwandan justice system demonstrated Rutunga’s critical role in the genocide.
Rutunga was apprehended in the Netherlands in 2019 and extradited to Rwanda in 2021. Following the verdict, Gakwenzire praised the Dutch authorities for their cooperation in justice matters, underscoring the importance of international collaboration in such cases.