Priest convicted in Rwandan genocide

[stignasty]

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

[kimmy]

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

[geoffrey]

I was under the impression the Church was on the right side in this one?

[kimmy]

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