Ignace Murwanashyaka

Dr. Ignace Murwanashyaka (born 14 May 1963) was a leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Rwandan Hutu rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FDLR are responsible for large scale human rights violations and crimes against humanity, including rape on a massive scale.[1][2]

Life

Murwanashyaka was born in Butare and has studied in West Germany. In November 2005 he was blacklisted by the United Nations for violating an arms embargo aimed at promoting peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and subjected to a travel bans and assets freeze.[3]

He was arrested on 7 April 2006 in Mannheim, Germany for immigration violations and released shortly after.[4][5] On 26 May 2006 preliminary investigation were opened against him for "Initial suspicion of involvement in crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo", but the prosecution has since been abandoned.[6] Rwanda indicated it would seek his extradition for alleged crimes committed during the Rwandan Genocide[7] and has issued an arrest warrant.[8]

He was arrested again on 17 November 2009 by the German authorities. The trial for him and his alleged aide Straton Musoni began on May 4, 2011 before the Oberlandesgericht in Stuttgart. They are accused of several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity according to the German Völkerstrafgesetzbuch. Their trial is the first held in Germany for crimes against this law.[9][10] In September 2015, the accused were sentenced to 13 and 8 years in prison.[11]

References

  1. ↑ McGreal, Chris (12 November 2007). "Hundreds of thousands of women raped for being on the wrong side". The Guardian. London.
  2. ↑ "Reports". Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Last updated on 6 February 2007
  4. ↑ Maciej Konarski. "psz.pl - DRK-Rwanda/ Przywdca FDLR aresztowany w Niemczech". Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Maciej Konarski. "psz.pl - Rwanda-Niemcy/ Murwanashyaka wyszed na wolno". Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Dominic Johnson. "Bundesregierung duldet Terrorchef: Ruandas Miliz-Führer in Deutschland - taz.de". Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  7. ↑ JURIST - Paper Chase: Suspected Rwanda war criminal arrested in Germany
  8. ↑ "www.interpol.com". Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Rwanda: Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni tried". BBC. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  10. ↑ "Oberlandesgericht Stuttgart (5. Strafsenat) eröffnet Hauptverfahren gegen zwei mutmaßliche Führungsfunktionäre der "Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda" (FDLR )". Oberlandesgericht Stuttgart (in German). 4 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  11. ↑ "Conviction of FDLR leaders by German Court". Armed Groups and International Law. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
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