Tutsi

19 Stories

Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Faces Terror Charges

Paul Rusesabagina, depicted as hero in 'Hotel Rwanda,' is in custody in Kigali

(Newser) - In the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina was depicted as a hero who saved more than 1,200 lives during the 1994 Rwandan genocide at the hotel he managed in Kigali. George W. Bush even presented him with the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 for his humanitarian...

One of the World's 'Most Wanted' Gets Arrested

Felicien Kabuga has been accused of equipping militias in the 1994 Rwandan genocide

(Newser) - One of the most wanted fugitives in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, a wealthy businessman accused of supplying machetes to killers and broadcasting propaganda urging mass slaughter, has been arrested outside Paris, the AP reports. Felicien Kabuga, who had a $5 million bounty on his head, had been accused of equipping...

24 Years After Rwanda's Genocide, a Shocking Find

Mass graves found outside the capital

(Newser) - Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country's genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby. The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation...

Rwanda in Mourning, for a Week

Country marks 20 years since genocide began

(Newser) - Rwanda has launched a week of national mourning to mark the anniversary of the genocide that began 20 years ago today when the country's president's plane was shot down. At a ceremony today, President Paul Kagame will light a torch that will burn for 100 days—the length...

Why an African King Lives on Public Assistance in Virginia

Rwanda's last royal ruler still yearns to reunite his nation

(Newser) - Figure the last king of Rwanda is living on a swanky estate somewhere in Africa? Try again: Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, who ruled from 1959-61, has spent years living in low-income housing in Virginia, where he likes watching wrestling on TV and handing out candies to kids, reports the Washingtonian . But...

Congo Massacres Claim Hundreds: Report

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calls killings 'beyond comprehension'

(Newser) - Hundreds of civilians, most of them women and children, appear to have been massacred by rival armed factions in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay revealed today. While Pillay said that reports were still being verified, she added that "the sheer...

Rwanda, Congo OK Border Army to Hunt Rebels

African nations set differences aside at summit

(Newser) - Presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo mended fences today by agreeing on an international force to hunt down rebels in the Congo's chaotic borderlands, Reuters reports. Rwanda's Paul Kagame and the Congo's Joseph Kabila signed the surprising agreement at an African Union summit in...

Rwandan Gets Life Sentence in 1994 Massacre

Hague court rules he took part in Hutu slaughter of Tutsis

(Newser) - A Dutch appeals court has convicted a Rwandan Hutu man of war crimes and sentenced him to life in prison for taking part in a massacre of Tutsis sheltering in a church during his country's 1994 genocide. The Hague Court of Appeal reversed Joseph Mpambara's acquittal by a...

Rwandan War Criminal Nabbed in Congo

UN confirms arrest of fugitive Bernard Munyagishari after 17 years

(Newser) - It's a rough day to be a war criminal. Bernard Munyagishari, a driving force behind the campaign of mass rape and genocide that ripped Rwanda apart, has been caught after 17 years on the run, confirms the UN. The former Hutu militia leader was arrested in the neighboring Democratic...

France Admits Failing Rwanda
 France Admits Failing Rwanda 

France Admits Failing Rwanda

Sarkozy: Genocide was 'defeat for humanity'

(Newser) - France made serious errors that contributed to the Rwandan genocide that killed 800,000 people in 1994, President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday. Sarkozy, on a visit to the African nation to build closer ties, stopped short of formally apologizing or addressing accusations that France helped train the Hutu militias that...

US College Suspends Prof Linked to Genocide

Suspected of role in Rwanda massacre

(Newser) - A US college has suspended a visiting professor suspected of participating in the Rwandan genocide, reports the Baltimore Sun. Rwandan prosecutors charge that Leopold Munyakazi, who was teaching French at Goucher College in Maryland, revealed hiding places of ethnic Tutsis to machete-wielding Hutu militias. "We have tried to act...

Rwanda Nabs Congo Rebel Leader

Nkunda arrested by country once accused of supporting him

(Newser) - Fearsome rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, the head of a movement that has destabilized the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been arrested over the border in Rwanda. Hundreds of Rwandan troops converged on a mountain village last night inside Congo where the general was stationed, but he crossed the border into...

Rwandan Genocide Mastermind Convicted

Bagosora sentenced to life by UN court for role in 1994 massacre

(Newser) - A UN court has convicted the organizer of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that claimed more than 500,000 lives and sentenced him to life in prison, reports the AP. Théoneste Bagosora was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, as well as the deaths of a Rwandan prime...

Thousands Flee as Congo Ceasefire Fails

Heads of state meet as army, rebels kill dozens

(Newser) - The ceasefire in eastern Congo crumbled yesterday as Tutsi rebels and Hutu militias did battle, leaving dozens of bodies lying in the streets of a town near the Rwandan border and forcing 35,000 residents to flee, the Guardian reports. Hutu residents have accused the rebel army of Laurent Nkunda...

Congo's Crisis at Breaking Point

EU, African Union scramble to broker peace deal as Nkunda attacks

(Newser) - European and African officials held crisis talks last night to avert a complete meltdown in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the civil war risks degenerating into genocide. The diplomatic push came as Laurent Nkunda, the Tutsi general, led 10,000 rebels into battle in a province bordering Rwanda, which...

Ceasefire Calms Congo
 Ceasefire Calms Congo 

Ceasefire Calms Congo

10 dead as fleeing refugees run into brutal government soldiers

(Newser) - Fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has eased after rebels declared a cease-fire, reports the Los Angeles Times. As paramilitary forces moved through the countryside, refugees flooded into the eastern city of Goma—only to face assault, rape and murder at the hands of the Congolese army. UN officials...

UN Pleads for Troops as Congo Battle Rages

Peacekeepers overwhelmed as rebels advance against government troops

(Newser) - The overwhelmed United Nations peacekeeping force in eastern Congo is urgently calling for reinforcements, the AP reports. A surge in fighting between Congolese government troops and forces led by a renegade general has sent tens of thousands fleeing. The UN currently has only 6,000 troops in North Kivu, where...

Congo's Gorillas Victims in War Over Charcoal

Corruption, poverty, unrest combine for conservationists' nightmare

(Newser) - Who murdered seven mountain gorillas in the Congo last year? Perhaps, National Geographic finds, the question should be how any of the magnificent apes stay alive at all. A three-way military standoff—a holdover from neighboring Rwanda’s haunted past—enveloping Virunga National Park has left gorillas, people, and the...

Rwandan War Crimes Suspect Arrested In Frankfurt

Ex-minister wanted for abetting genocide

(Newser) - An ex-cabinet minister wanted for war crimes during the 1994 Rwandan genocide has been arrested in Germany after more than a decade on the lam. Deutsche Welle reports that a manhunt had tracked Augustin Ngirabatware since July as he shuttled between hotels and apartments before being caught on Wednesday near...

19 Stories