LIFE SENTENCE CONFIRMED AGAINST TWO MAYORS Octavien Ngenzi and Tito Barahira Context The case against Octavien Ngenzi and Tito Barahira is the second trial in France to have resulted in the conviction of Rwandan nationals for their involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Suspects Former Rwandan mayors Country of residence of suspects France Charges Genocide and crimes against humanity Developments in 2018 On 2 May 2018, their appeal trial opened before the Criminal Court in Paris (Cour d’Assises de Paris). On 6 July 2018, the Appeal Court confirmed their convictions and life sentences issued at first instance. Both defendants have appealed to the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation). Current status Sentenced to life imprisonment; confirmed on appeal; last recourse ongoing Facts Court (Cour de Cassation) dismissed the appeal on 7 January 2015. Octavien Ngenzi was the mayor of the Kabarondo district in eastern Rwanda and the local leader of a former political party called the National Republican Movement for Development and Democracy (MNRD). Tito Barahira was a former mayor of the same district and the chairman of the MRND at the commune level. Octavien Ngenzi and Tito Barahira were convicted of participating in the massacre of hundreds of Tutsis, including those who had sought refuge in a church in Kabarondo on 13 April 1994. The trial before the Paris Criminal Trial Court opened on 10 May 2016 and lasted eight weeks, concluding on 6 July 2016 with the conviction of both Octavien Ngenzi and Tito Barahira for genocide and crimes against humanity. They were found guilty of overseeing the systematic practice of summary executions of ethnic Tutsis. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Procedure On 2 June 2010, the “Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda” (CPCR) filed a complaint against Octavien Ngenzi with the Office of the Prosecutor at the Mamoudzou
High Court (Tribunal de Grande Instance de Mamoudzou, Mayotte). On 4 June 2010, Octavien Ngenzi was arrested and detained in Mayotte. In October 2010, Tito Barahira was indicted by the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) in Rwanda for his alleged participation in the genocide and for alleged incitement to commit genocide. Pursuant to an arrest warrant issued in Rwanda, he was arrested on 3 April 2013 in Toulouse, France. However, the French authorities denied the Rwandan extradition request, and the two cases were combined on 16 July 2013. Fourteen civil parties have joined the case. On 13 May 2014, the Office of the Prosecutor of the High Court of Paris (Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris) sought the prosecution of Octavien Ngenzi and Tito Barahira before the Paris Criminal Trial Court. On 28 May 2014, the investigating judge referred their case to the Paris Criminal Trial Court. The defendants appealed this decision but the French Supreme 34 On 7 July 2016, their lawyers announced their intention to appeal the conviction. The appeal trial took place between 2 May and 6 July 2018 before the Paris Criminal Court (Cour d’Assises). The defendants’ convictions and life sentences were confirmed on appeal. They have both appealed to the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation). Read more about the case