Béatrice Nirere is a

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n politician who was convicted of genocide for her involvement in the

1994 Rwandan Genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

. At the time of her conviction in 2009, she was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda, the country's lower house of parliament.

Events

In 1993, Nirere was a deputy governor in charge of social affairs in the Byumba Prefecture. That year, she fled from advancing troops of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) and moved to a suburb of

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

. Witnesses stated that during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide Nirere was a member of the Interahamwe militia that organised the massacre of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus and that Nirere's influence with the militia derived from her political position. Nirere admitted to having handed out uniforms and other supplies to Interahamwe members, but she denied being otherwise affiliated with them. She was also accused of setting up and overseeing a roadblock where Tutsis were detained before they were killed. In September 2008, Nirere was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the ruling FPR. Following a further five months as a member of parliament, she was charged with genocide and tried in a gacaca court in Giporoso, Gasabo District. On 2 March 2009, Nirere was found guilty of genocide and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. The question of Nirere's replacement in parliament was raised in the following May, as she had not yet been replaced by the FPR. The speaker of the house,

Rose Mukantabana Rose Mukantabana (born 31 August 1961) is a lawyer and women's rights activist. She is the former President of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda and was the first woman elected to the post. She was elected to serve as chair of the African Parliame ...

, raised the issue since a maximum of ten days is allowed by the parliamentary law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nirere, Beatrice Rwandan people convicted of genocide Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Rwanda Rwandan prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Rwanda) Living people People from Northern Province, Rwanda 21st-century Rwandan women politicians 21st-century Rwandan politicians 20th-century Rwandan women politicians 20th-century Rwandan politicians Year of birth missing (living people)