Post by bot on May 10, 2012 17:57:07 GMT -5

The United States welcomes the May 8, 2012 International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) appeal decisions in the cases of Gaspard Kanyarukiga, Aloys Ntabakuze, and Ildephonse Hategekimana. The Appeals Chamber of the ICTR affirmed the convictions of these three individuals for genocide and crimes against humanity, among other crimes. Although some counts against Ntabakuze were set aside by the Appeals Chamber, the decision indicates a careful, transparent, and balanced judicial process.The three were sentenced to 30 years, 35 years, and life in prison, respectively. Ntabakuze and Hategekimana were both officers in the Rwandan Army (commander and lieutenant). Kanyarukiga, a businessman, was convicted of genocide based on his participation in the planning of the destruction of a church in Kivumu,midst of revolution, a young poet and the man that ruined his life travel through the jungle in search of safety. At the same time, a grieving widow encounters mystical beings on a mountain while searching for the body of her beloved revolutionary.