Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza (1950 – 25 April 2010) was a convicted Génocidiare and politician associated with the

Hutu Power Hutu Power is a racial and ethnosupremacist ideology that asserts the ethnic superiority of Hutu, often in the context of being superior to Tutsi and Twa, and that therefore they are entitled to dominate and murder these two groups and other mino ...

movement. A high-ranking civil servant, Barayagwiza served as policy director within the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

at the time of the Rwandan genocide. He has been described as one of the "masterminds" of the genocide. Barayagwiza was a founding member of the extremist party Coalition for the Defence of the Republic, which was considered to take an even more radical stance against the Tutsi population than the governing

National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development The National Revolutionary Movement for Development (french: Mouvement révolutionaire national pour le développement, MRND) was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana. From 1978 to 1991, the M ...

. As chairman of the executive committee of popular radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTML), he would preside over the airing of content urging genocidal violence against the Tutsis.

Post-genocide life

Cameroon While detained in Yaoundé, Cameroon in 1996, Barayagwiza would accuse the RPF government of unfair bias against the Hutus, stating that "the regime is generalizing and making things ethnic by accusing the Hutu as genociders". Barayagwiza claimed Hutus were the victim of Tutsi aggression during the genocide and had been acting in self-defense. Genocide trial and death On 23 October 2000 he was charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with Genocide,

Crimes Against Humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

and violations of the Geneva Conventions. He was tried along with

Ferdinand Nahimana Ferdinand Nahimana (born 15 June 1950) is a Rwandan historian, who was convicted of incitement to genocide for his role in the Rwandan genocide. Nahimana was co-founder of the radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), wh ...

, a co-founder of RTLM, and Hassan Ngeze, director and editor of the '' Kangura'' newspaper. Barayagwiza was initially defended by Canadian lawyer Mrs. Marchessault and American lawyer Mr. Danielson. When the two lawyers withdrew, Barayagwiza was defended throughout the trial, up to the sentence of first instance, by Italian lawyer Giacomo Barletta Caldarera, so far the only Italian lawyer to have acted as defense counsel in a UN International Tribunal. Barayagwiza refused to participate in the trial, claiming that the judges were not impartial. On 3 December 2003 Barayagwiza was found guilty of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, public and direct incitement to genocide and extermination and persecution constituting crimes against humanity. He was also found not guilty of additional charges of complicity in genocide, murder and violations of Geneva Conventions. He was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment. He announced that he was appealing the sentence and was assigned Donald Herbert and Tanoo Mylvaganam as a new defence counsel on 30 November 2004. Alfred Pognon was called as "adjunct" defense counsel to Barletta Caldarera. His appeal was partially upheld on 22 June 2009 and his sentence was reduced to 32 years' imprisonment. He died on 25 April 2010 in

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

, Benin, due to an advanced case of

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

. It has been reported by his family that he was denied adequate treatment.

References

External links

RwandaFile
Articles from ''Kangura,'' in English, French and Kinyarwanda {{DEFAULTSORT:Barayagwiza, Jean-Bosco 1950 births 2010 deaths People from Western Province, Rwanda Hutu people Coalition for the Defence of the Republic politicians People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Rwandan people convicted of crimes against humanity Rwandan prisoners and detainees Deaths from hepatitis People convicted of incitement to genocide