{Some of Gatsibo genocide survivors in Kiziguro have expressed satisfaction over the life sentence handed to Onesphore Rwabukombe by a German court.}
On 29th December, the German high court of Frankfurt sentenced to life Onesphore Rwabukombe over genocide crimes where he commanded the murder of 400 Tutsi that had fled to a Kiziguro church on 11th April 1994. He was, by that time, a mayor of Muvumba district in the former Byumba prefecture.
Talking to Radio Rwanda, survivors said the punishment is in commensurate with the crimes committed.
“We welcome the judgment of the Germany court and the sentence,” said Kankundiye Agnes, a survivor.
Claudine Nyirandengeye, another survivor, that Rwabukombe was at the fore of exterminations of Tutsi who fled to the church where he toured various sectors in a car equipped with arms, mobilizing citizens to go and kill Tutsis that had fled to the church.
The president of Ibuka in Gatsibo district, Félicien Niyonzima has also commended the German’s court judgment. “There is a hope for the future, when a criminal is arrested in foreign land, tried and sentenced, it shows that humanity is committed to delivering justice everywhere anytime.”
Niyonzima further observed that penalizing a genocide convict is a way of valuing Rwandans, rejecting genocide ideology and supporting Rwandans unity.
Rwabukombe was granted a German refugee status in 2002. He was arrested in 2010 after issuing arrest warrant in 2007.
In 2014, the Frankfurt court sentenced Rwabukombe to14 years, a decision rejected by German government until the recent trial where he was handed life.
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