The Cour d’assises d’appel in Paris is set to begin the appeal trial of Sosthène Munyemana, a Genocide suspect notoriously known as the “Butcher of Tumba.” The trial is expected to start on September 16, with the proceedings expected to run until October 24. Munyemana, a trained medical doctor and former lecturer at the National University of Rwanda, was in 2023, sentenced to 24 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and complicity in genocide. He appealed the ruling. ALSO READ: Genocide: ‘Butcher of Tumba’ sentenced to 24 years in France Now aged 70, Munyemana has lived in France for more than two decades despite longstanding indictments for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. He was a gynecologist at the University Hospital of Butare (CHUB) and a lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine during the genocide. ALSO READ: Survivors, activists hope for justice as 'Butcher of Tumba' trial starts in France Who is Munyemana? Born in 1955 in Mbare, then part of the former Musambira commune in Gitarama prefecture (now Muhanga District), Munyemana studied at the former National University of Rwanda in Butare [now Huye]. He later specialised in gynaecology at the University of Bordeaux II in France before returning to work at CHUB and teach at the university. During the genocide, he resided in Tumba Sector, Huye District. Witnesses testified that while on leave from March to May 1994, he actively participated in the killings before fleeing to France. Despite an indictment issued as early as 1995, he continued practicing medicine at Villeneuve-sur-Lot Hospital. An international arrest warrant was issued by Rwanda, and Interpol placed him under a red notice in 2006. His application for refugee status in France was rejected in 2008, but extradition requests from Rwanda were never honoured. In 2007, Gacaca courts tried him in absentia and sentenced him to 30 years for crimes committed at CHUB and in Tumba. The Ngoma Gacaca Court upheld the sentence in 2010, confirming his role in planning and executing massacres in Butare, including at CHUB, where women and children were among the victims.
