---

Hirondelle News Agency, Switzerland
Dec. 13, 2004
allafrica.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 9724 • Posted: Wednesday December 15, 2004  

---

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Monday upheld the sentencing of a father and son duo found guilty of genocide by the tribunal last year.

The five judges of the chamber headed by Judge Theodor Meron of the USA, confirmed the ten year jail sentence handed down to Pastor Elisaphan Ntakirutimana and 25 years to his son Dr. Gerald Ntakirutimana.

Pastor Ntakirutimana, 80, was the president of the West Rwanda Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) area at the time of the genocide. He was based at Mugonero SDA complex in Kibuye province. His son, Doctor Ntakirutimana, 46, was a doctor at the SDA hospital in the complex.

The two were found guilty of conveying attackers to Mugonero complex and Bisesero hills to kill hundreds of predominantly ethnic Tutsi men, women and children who had taken refugee in the complex. The refugees were fleeing from attacks by extremist Hutu militias.

Doctor Ntakirutimana was also found guilty of at least two murders and direct participation in several attacks in the Bisesero area in Kibuye. “By these acts, in particular transporting and encouraging attackers, Elisaphan Ntakirutimana knowingly participated in the massacres of Tutsis in Bisesero”, judge Meron ruled.

Dr Gerald Ntakirutimana was also found guilty of personal participation in the massacres in relation to the killing of Charles Ukobizaba.The chamber found that these acts “were committed with the knowledge that they were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Tutsi civilian population”.

Unlike his son, the frail pastor was not as emotional as his son who struggled to hold back tears as the judge read out the ruling. Pastor Ntakirutimana is the first clergymen detained by the ICTR to go on trial. He was arrested in Texas, USA, on September 29th, 1996. He was transferred to the ICTR on March 24th, 2000 after loosing a protracted legal battle against his extradition.

A month after Pastor Ntakirutimana’s arrest, his son was arrested in Ivory Coast. He was transferred to the ICTR two days later. Both pleaded not guilty to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The trial began in September 2001 and closed in August 2002.Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark was appearing for Pastor Ntakirutimana while his son was represented by David Jacobs from Canada.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Seventh-day Adventism Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Seventh-day Adventism Read Another Article Previous entry: O Little Town of … where? Next entry: Ecleo trial begins; judge bans foreign travel RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Seventh-day Adventism Most Popular Today Church of Scientology told to drop Churchill images I know the dark side of Scientology…I almost lost my friend when she became obsessed with it

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.