Jean kambanda biography

The former Rwandan prime minister, Jean Kambanda, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity. Kambanda had pleaded guilty at a United Nations war crimes tribunal in Tanzania to his part in the murder of 500,000 Rwandans.

It is the first time an international court has sentenced a suspect for the crime of genocide.

Kambanda, 42, who held office during the massacres in Rwanda in 1994, was accused of attending meetings where massacres of the Rwandan Tutsi minority were encouraged.

His lawyer had appealed to the tribunal to impose only a light sentence.

Jean kambanda biography wikipedia

In mitigation they said his evidence had implicated other key figures.

Abuse of trust

But three international judges decided Kambanda had not expressed "contrition, regret or sympathy".

Sighs of relief rippled through the public gallery, filled with Rwandan survivors of the genocide, as the sentence was announced.

Chief Judge Laity Kama said: "Jean Kambanda abused his authority and