At UN tribunal former Rwandan college rector pleads not guilty to genocide charges

Making his first appearance before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) today, a priest accused of participating in the country's 1994 genocide pleaded not guilty to all four charges against him.

Father Hormisdas Nsengimana, formerly a Rector of Christ-Roi College in Nyanza, Nyabisindu Commune in Butare Prefecture, is charged with four counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity for murder and extermination.

The accused is alleged to have been among the organizers of the slaughter of Tutsis in Nyanza, Butare in 1994, playing a leading role in a group of killers called Les Dragons (The Dragons) or Escadron de la Mort (Death Squad). The two groups supposedly played a crucial role in the killing of Tutsis in and around the Christ-Roi College and in other parts of Butare Prefecture.

According to the ICTR, Fr. Nsengimana, 48, is alleged to have told soldiers involved in the killings, "Let me kill this Tutsi dog myself, since I am sick and tired of him." Then brandishing his weapon he allegedly screamed, "Let me kill and let me be proud of it, let me stop when my weapon kills five."

The accused is also alleged to have been instrumental in the killing of several Tutsi priests from his college. In one incident he allegedly gave some money to a young orphan to get information about the whereabouts of three Tutsi priests who had fled the College.

After being informed of their whereabouts, Fr. Nsengimana and his group allegedly left the college accompanied by some soldiers, in search of the priests who were later killed.

Fr. Nsengimana is also accused of embezzling assets of the college, including stealing a safe from the Bursar, Father Mathieu Ngirumpatse, before killing him. He is said to have stolen the clothes of his victims and looted their goods that he shared with his group.

The accused was arrested on 21 March in Yaounde, Cameroon, and transferred to the UN Detention Facility in Arusha, Tanzania on 10 April.