The Impuzamugambi (, ''"those with the same goal"'') was a Hutu militia in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

formed in 1992. Together with the Interahamwe militia, which formed earlier and had more members, the Impuzamugambi was responsible for many of the deaths of Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the

Genocide against the Tutsi The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

of 1994. While the Interahamwe was led by prominent figures in the ruling party

National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development The National Revolutionary Movement for Development (french: Mouvement révolutionaire national pour le développement, MRND) was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana. From 1978 to 1991, the M ...

(''Mouvement républicain national pour la démocratie et le développement'', MRND), the Impuzamugambi was controlled by the leadership of the Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (''Coalition pour la Défense de la République'', CDR) and recruited its members from the youth wing of the CDR. The CDR was a separate Hutu party which cooperated with the MRND, though it had a significantly more extreme ethnically Pro-Hutu and Anti-Tutsi agenda than the MRND. The smaller Impuzamugambi was less organized than the Interahamwe, but it was responsible for a large portion of genocidal deaths. Like the Interahamwe, the Impuzamugambi was trained and equipped by the Rwandan Government Forces (RGF) and the Presidential Guard of Rwanda's president and MRND leader Juvénal Habyarimana. When the genocide started in April 1994, the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi acted in close collaboration and largely merged their structures and activities, though some distinction was still evident in differences in their clothing. Some génocidaires participated with both militias in the killings of Tutsis and moderate Hutu. After the main period of genocide, members of both militias as well as large parts of the Hutu population fled from Rwanda to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Of the leadership of the CDR, Hassan Ngeze and

Jean Bosco Barayagwiza Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza (1950 – 25 April 2010) was a convicted Génocidiare and politician associated with the Hutu Power movement. A high-ranking civil servant, Barayagwiza served as policy director within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at t ...

were greatly responsible for commanding the Impuzamugambi. Both were found guilty in 2003 by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda of planning and leading the genocide, incitement of genocide, and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

. They were both sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. The sentence against Barayagwiza was later reduced to 35 years due to a partial violation of

due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...

. After deducting time already served, he would have stayed in prison for at least 27 years but later died.

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{{more footnotes, date=January 2015
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Paramilitary organisations based in Rwanda Rwandan genocide Rwandan genocide perpetrators Military wings of fascist parties Rebel groups in Rwanda

See also

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