a former Rwandan gendarme convicted on appeal in Paris for his participation in the genocide

According to France Culture, Philippe Hategekimana, naturalized French under the name of Philippe Manier, is sentenced on appeal to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity and complicity in crimes against humanity.

Former Rwandan gendarme Philippe Manier, sentenced in June 2023 to life imprisonment for his participation in the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, was sentenced to the same sentence on appeal in Paris on Tuesday December 17, noted the France Culture journalist in court.

The Paris Court of Appeal declared Philippe Manier guilty on Tuesday of “most charges”. Philippe Hategekimana, naturalized French under the name of Philippe Manier, is sentenced on appeal to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity and complicity in crimes against humanity. On the contrary, he was acquitted of charges of conspiracy to commit genocide.

His appeal trial opened on November 8. The former chief warrant officer of the Nyanza region, in central Rwanda, was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 28, 2023, for participation and organization of several massacres: that of Nyabubare hill, Nyamure, Nianza between April 23 and 27, 1994.

Arriving in France in 1999 with false documents, he started a new life as a security agent at Rennes 2 University. It was there that the members of the collective of civil parties for Rwanda (CPCR) l ‘located in 2017, and filed a complaint. During the eight weeks of trial, the accused was not very talkative, contenting himself with reaffirming that he was not in Nyanza but in Kigali at the time of the events.

The genocide in Rwanda left more than 800,000 dead according to the UN, mainly Tutsi exterminated between April and July 1994.