This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/7960456.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Rwandan found guilty of murders | Rwandan found guilty of murders |
| (about 23 hours later) | |
| A court in the Netherlands has found a Rwandan Hutu, Joseph Mpambara, guilty of torture during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 but not of war crimes. | A court in the Netherlands has found a Rwandan Hutu, Joseph Mpambara, guilty of torture during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 but not of war crimes. |
| He was given 20 years in prison for, the judges said, robbing "two women and at least four children of their most valuable possession: their lives". | He was given 20 years in prison for, the judges said, robbing "two women and at least four children of their most valuable possession: their lives". |
| He had ordered them to be pulled out of an ambulance and hacked to death. | |
| But he was acquitted of the murder of Tutsis sheltering at a church, due to inconsistencies in the testimonies. | But he was acquitted of the murder of Tutsis sheltering at a church, due to inconsistencies in the testimonies. |
| Complex judgement | Complex judgement |
| Mpambara was also found guilty on a second torture charge: threatening the lives of a German doctor, his Tutsi wife and their two-month-old son after detaining them at a roadblock as they tried to flee Rwanda. | |
| In a complex judgment the judges cleared Mpambara of war crimes because he was not part of the Rwandan government army fighting Tutsis. | In a complex judgment the judges cleared Mpambara of war crimes because he was not part of the Rwandan government army fighting Tutsis. |
| Some 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu militias in just 100 days in 1994. | |
| Mpambara's case came to the attention of Dutch authorities after his 1998 application for asylum was turned down. Dutch law allows the prosecution of war crimes committed overseas. | Mpambara's case came to the attention of Dutch authorities after his 1998 application for asylum was turned down. Dutch law allows the prosecution of war crimes committed overseas. |
| The UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was set up in 1997 to try the most high-profile genocide cases. | The UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was set up in 1997 to try the most high-profile genocide cases. |