Théodore Sindikubwabo (1928 – March 1998) was the interim

President of Rwanda This article lists the presidents of Rwanda since the creation of the office in 1961 (during the Rwandan Revolution), to the present day. The president of Rwanda is the head of state and head of executive of the Republic of Rwanda. The presi ...

during the genocide against Tutsis, from 9 April to 19 July 1994. Prior to that, he was President of the Rwandan legislature National Development Council from 1988–1994. Sindikubwabo was born in Zivu, Shyanda village, in the town of

Butare Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by population. History The Belgian colonial rulers establish ...

, formerly called Astrida in Rwanda-Urundi Territory, and currently the southern province of Rwanda. His parents Zacharrie Semutwa and Judithe Nyiramanda were both from the Tutsi ethnic group. Sindikubwabo was educated as a physician and was Minister of Health in the administration of President Kayibanda. Following the takeover by

Juvénal Habyarimana Juvénal Habyarimana (, ; 8 March 19376 April 1994) was a Rwandan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Rwanda, from 1973 until 1994. He was nicknamed ''Kinani'', a Kinyarwanda word meaning "invincible". An ethn ...

, Sindikubwabo became a practising pediatrician in Kigali Central Hospital. He later returned to politics as a deputy in parliament. Immediately following Habyarimana's assassination on 6 April 1994, Sindikubwabo was installed as interim President by the Crisis Committee controlled by Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, and he was the head of state during the genocide. Sindikubwabo is widely believed to have been a puppet of the group of military officers who held the real power. On 19 April 1994, he made a now-infamous speech at the ceremony appointing a new ''Préfet'' (Governor) of Butare that was broadcast on national radio, in which he insulted those who were not "working", a euphemism for killing

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic ...

s, and told them to "get out of the way and let us work". On 29 April, he returned to Butare and told the populace that he was there to supervise the killing of Tutsis. On 18 May, whilst on a visit to Kibuye Prefecture, he congratulated the people on how well they had done their "work". Taking advantage of his medical knowledge, he advised the military to cut a certain vein on the jugular to cause certain death. Following the invasion of the

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, wi ...

that took control of the country and ended the genocide, Sindikubwabo fled to

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

(now the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

), where he lived in exile in

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...

. He was interviewed there for the book ''

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families #REDIRECT We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families {{R from other capitalisation ...

'' and quoted as saying: "The moment has not yet come to say who is guilty and who is not guilty." He was initially reported to have been killed in the Rwandan government attack on Bukavu in November 1996 at the beginning of the First Congo War, but subsequent reports put him in Kinshasa. He died in exile in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in March 1998 and was never charged by the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...

Footnotes

External links

Butare, an 'Intellectual' Town That Outdid Itself, Even in Genocide
18 February 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sindikubwabo, Theodore 1928 births 1998 deaths Hutu people Rwandan genocide perpetrators Government ministers of Rwanda Members of the Parliament of Rwanda Rwandan exiles Rwandan expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo People from Butare