Justin Mugenzi (born 1939) is a Rwandan former politician who served as chairman of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and Minister of Commerce during the 1994

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 ...

. He was born in Rukara Commune,

Kibungo Province Kibungo was a south-eastern province of Rwanda near the border with Tanzania. It was known for its production of bananas. In 2006, it became part of the new Eastern Province. Kibungo Municipality is also a municipality within the province. D ...

. In 2011 he was convicted, along with

Prosper Mugiraneza Prosper Mugiraneza is a former minister of civil service in Rwanda.Rwandan ge ...

, of conspiracy to commit genocide and

incitement to genocide Incitement to genocide is a crime under international law which prohibits inciting (encouraging) the commission of genocide. An extreme form of hate speech, incitement to genocide is an inchoate offense and is theoretically subject to prosecuti ...

by 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). The convictions were reversed on

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

Early life and career

Mugenzi was born in 1939 in the

Rukara Rukara is a sector and town in Kayonza district in Eastern Province in Rwanda. Geography Rukara covers an area of 64.37 km2 and lies at an altitude of about 1,540 meters. The sector is divided into three cells: Kawangire, Rukara and ...

commune of the former

in Rwanda. He was chairman of the Liberal Party and commerce minister of the interim government during the Rwandan genocide.

Arrest and ICTR trial

Mugenzi was arrested in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

on 6 April 1999 and convicted in 2011 for his role in Jean-Baptiste Habyalimana's removal as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Butare province Butare was a province (''prefecture'') of Rwanda prior to its dissolution in January 2006. Butare city was the second largest city in Rwanda and one of the nation's former twelve provinces. It is located in south-central region of the country and ...

. The violence in Butare intensified under the leadership of Habyalima's successor Sylvain Nsabimana. At Nsabimana's installation ceremony, the President of the interim government

Théodore Sindikubwabo Théodore Sindikubwabo (1928 – March 1998) was a Rwandan politician who was the interim President of Rwanda during the Rwandan genocide, from 8 April to 19 July 1994. Prior to that, he was President of the Rwandan legislature National Developm ...

reportedly gave a speech calling for the murder of Tutsis. In 2011 he was convicted, along with

Prosper Mugiraneza Prosper Mugiraneza is a former minister of civil service in Rwanda.Rwandan ge ...

, of "conspiracy to commit genocide" and "public incitement to commit genocide" by the

(ICTR).

Acquittal on appeal

Mugenzi's case was among several successful appeals in the ICTR and

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

after the "specific direction" standard was introduced under Meron's leadership. The Trial Chamber had determined that Mugenzi had acted with

genocidal intent Genocidal intent is the specific mental element, or , required to classify an act as genocide under international law, particularly the 1948 Genocide Convention. To establish genocide, perpetrators must be shown to have had the '' dolus speciali ...

when he decided to "undercut the real and symbolic resistance abyalimanaposed to the killing of Tutsi civilians inhabiting or seeking refuge in Butare". The Appeals Chamber ruled that the Trial Chamber's ''mens rea'' analysis was an

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

and reversed the conviction for "conspiracy to commit genocide". The Trial Chamber also held that Mugenzi was guilty of "direct and public incitement to commit genocide" for his participation at Nsabimana's installation ceremony. Under the Trial Chamber's ''

mens rea In criminal law, (; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental state of a defendant who is accused of committing a crime. In common law jurisdictions, most crimes require proof both of ''mens rea'' and '' actus reus'' ("guilty act") before th ...

'' analysis Mugenzi shared a "common criminal purpose" and thus possessed the same genocidal intent as interim President Sindikubwabo. The Appeals Chamber found that a reasonable

trier of fact In law, a trier of fact or finder of fact is a person or group who determines disputed issues of fact in a legal proceeding (usually a trial) and how relevant they are to deciding its outcome. To determine a fact is to decide, from the evide ...

could not rule out the possibility that Mugenzi could have attended the ceremony out of social obligation and reversed the conviction for "direct and public incitement to commit genocide". After his

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...

Mugenzi continued living in a safe house in

Arusha Arusha is a city in Tanzania. The city is the Capital city, capital of the Arusha Region. It has a population of 617,631 people.

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. He submitted several unsuccessful visa applications seeking to join his family in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mugenzi, Justin People of the Rwandan genocide People acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 1939 births People from Kayonza District Rwandan people convicted of genocide Living people Liberal Party (Rwanda) politicians