Genocide Conviction in Rwanda

On Friday a former Rwandan military chaplain, Emmanuel Rukundo, was convicted for crimes of rape and genocide and sentenced to 25 years in prison by a U.N. tribunal. According to Judge Joseph Asoka Nihal de Silva, there was clear evidence connecting Rukundo to the killings of Tutsi civilians near Gitarama during the 1994 genocide which led to his conviction. His stature as a priest also aided in their judgement.
It was also found that Rukundo played a key role in at least four occasions of abductions and killings from the St. Leon Minor Seminary in Gitarama of the Tutsi people who were seeking refuge there. A victim also testified that Rukundo had attempted rape of several women from that same seminary.
Rukundo will serve 17 and a half years of his 25 year sentence due to the time he has already spent in prison. He was arrested in January of 2001; in March of 2001 he was sent to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda detention center and his trial began in November of 2006.
Rukundo is not the first to see judgment after the Rwandan genocide of 1994. There have been 38 other judgments, nine trails are currently being conducted and seven other people are awaiting trial. The tribunal has until the end of the year to complete its trials as stated by the U.N. Security Council.