stignasty Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- A Catholic priest was convicted Wednesday of participating in Rwanda's 1994 genocide by ordering militiamen to set fire to a church and then bulldoze it while 2,000 people were huddled inside. Athanase Seromba, sitting before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, although he will get credit for the four years he has served. The tribunal is based in Arusha, Tanzania. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/12/13...t.ap/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmy Posted December 16, 2006 Report Share Posted December 16, 2006 We generally don't expect much from third-world knuckleheads, but one might have hoped for a little more enlightenment from a priest. Apparently not. I notice that other representatives of the Catholic church have also been indicted in the genocide, and I'm confused as to why. Was it a case where people turned to the church for shelter, and therefore the church people were in a position to betray them? Or did the church have some vested interest? I'm confused. -k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffrey Posted December 17, 2006 Report Share Posted December 17, 2006 I was under the impression the Church was on the right side in this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmy Posted December 17, 2006 Report Share Posted December 17, 2006 I was under the impression the Church was on the right side in this one? Mr Seromba begs to differ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_...wandan_Genocide A Human Rights Watch report notes that "Far from condemning the attempt to exterminate the Tutsi, Archbishop Augustin Nshamihigo and Bishop Jonathan Ruhumuliza of the Anglican Church acted as spokemen for the genocidal government at a press conference in Nairobi."... "A small number of clergy and other religious persons have been accused of having incited genocide, delivered victims to the killers or even of having killed themselves. Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana has been indicted before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in connection with the massacre at Mugonero and Abbé Wenceslas Munyeshyaka of the Sainte Famille Church in Kigali has been charged in France with torture. Two Rwandan priests have been found guilty of genocide and condemned to death by a Rwandan court." The article cites this Human Rights Watch report: http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Gen...htm#P893_245534 ...which seems to be thoroughly footnoted. I am going to have to read Dallaire's book one of these days. -k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.