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A Dutch Court Convicts a Rwandan Man over His Home Country’s 1994 Genocide, Sentences Him to Life
Prosecutors said Eugene N. personally helped carry out killings and attacks on Tutsis, and the court found genocidal intent.
The Hague District Court sentenced a 66-year-old Rwandan-born Dutch man to life imprisonment on Friday for inciting and participating in the massacre of 3,000 Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.
Prosecutors alleged Eugene engaged in a "rampage of looting and destruction" before the killings, torching homes and throwing a grenade into a stadium where victims sought refuge.
While European courts have convicted dozens under universal jurisdiction, local statutes prevented his extradition, leading to this domestic trial where the defendant denied all charges.
Stating that "only a long life imprisonment" was appropriate, the presiding judge cited the defendant's "significant lack of respect for human dignity" regarding the victims.
Hutu extremists orchestrated a campaign of mass murder, claiming an estimated 800,000 lives and devastating the Tutsi minority in Rwanda.