Theoneste Bagosora was nicknamed the “Himmler of Rwanda” or the “Colonel of the Apocalypse”. After reaching the highest circles of power thanks to a brilliant military career, he became the “mastermind” of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
This colonel of the Rwandan army died Saturday, at the age of 80, in Mali where he was serving his sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Initially sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Arusha (Tanzania), he had his sentence reduced to 35 years in prison on appeal in 2011.
The man who in 1994 held the position of Director of Cabinet at the Rwandan Ministry of Defense has always denied the role he is believed to have played in the genocide that left 800,000 dead in a hundred days, according to the UN, mainly among the Tutsi minority.
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Data source: independent.in