Athanase Seromba (born 1963) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest from

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

who was found guilty of committing genocide and of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

during the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

Crimes

At the time of the genocide, Seromba was the priest in charge of a

parish at Nyange in the

Kibuye province The Province of Kibuye was one of the 12 provinces of Rwanda prior to 2006. These were known as prefectures before the administrative reform of 2002. Kibuye, Rwanda was the "capital" (or, in certain official Rwandan texts, the "major city") of ...

of western Rwanda. He was convicted of committing genocide due to his providing of key and necessary approval for the bulldozing of his church, where 1,500–2,000

Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...

were taking refuge, with the intent to not only kill large numbers of people, but specifically to destroy the Tutsi as an ethnic group. Seromba fled Rwanda in July 1994. Catholic monks helped him move to Italy, change his name and also helped him work as a priest for the Catholic Church near the city of Florence using the alias Anastasio Sumba Bura. Under pressure from

Carla Del Ponte Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947) is a Swiss former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the f ...

, the chief UN war crimes prosecutor, Seromba surrendered himself to the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; ; ) was an international court, international ''ad-hoc'' court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in United Nations Security Council Resolution 955, Resolutio ...

(ICTR) on February 6, 2002. On February 8, 2002, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and

extermination Extermination or exterminate may refer to: * Pest control, elimination of insects or vermin * Extermination (crime), the killing of human on a large scale * Genocide, at least one of five "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in par ...

as a

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

. His trial began on September 20, 2004, before the Third Trial Chamber of the ICTR. On 13 December 2006, he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Seromba appealed the verdict. On 12 March 2008, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) decided his responsibility was greater than previously found, affirmed his conviction, and increased his punishment to life in prison. On 27 June 2009, Seromba was transferred to

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. He is serving his life sentence at

Akpro-Missérété Akpro-Missérété is a city, arrondissement, and commune in Ouémé Department, Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to th ...

prison at

Porto-Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Benin, second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following Bri ...

, Benin.

Notes and references

External links

Fondation HirondelleICTR documents on the case
1963 births Living people Hutu people 20th-century Rwandan Roman Catholic priests Catholic priests convicted of crimes against humanity People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals Rwandan people convicted of crimes against humanity Rwandan people convicted of genocide Rwandan prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment {{Rwanda-bio-stub

Crimes

See also

Notes and references

External links