France’s highest court has upheld the 27 year prison sentence imposed on former Rwandan doctor Eugene Rwamucyo for his role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, bringing to a close one of the country’s most significant genocide related prosecutions.
The Court of Cassation rejected Rwamucyo’s final appeal, confirming the sentence handed down by an appeals court in 2023. The ruling makes the conviction final under French law.
Rwamucyo was found guilty of complicity in genocide, complicity in crimes against humanity and conspiracy to commit those crimes during the 1994 mass killings in Rwanda, in which an estimated 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi and moderate Hutu, were killed over approximately 100 days.
French prosecutors argued that Rwamucyo played a role in organizing and facilitating atrocities in southern Rwanda, including the disposal of victims’ bodies to conceal evidence of the killings. He denied the charges throughout the proceedings.
The former doctor, who had lived and worked in France after leaving Rwanda, was arrested in 2010 and extradition proceedings were replaced by a domestic prosecution under France’s universal jurisdiction laws. His trial began more than a decade later as part of France’s efforts to prosecute genocide suspects residing within its territory.
The decision reinforces France’s commitment to pursuing accountability for individuals accused of participating in the 1994 genocide, regardless of where the alleged crimes were committed. Human rights advocates have long called for greater international cooperation in bringing suspected perpetrators to justice.
The ruling also highlights the continuing judicial process surrounding the Rwandan genocide more than three decades after the violence, reflecting ongoing efforts by national courts to address allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity through domestic legal systems.
The conviction is now final, concluding years of legal proceedings against Rwamucyo in the French courts.
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