Rwanda's former composer and singer Simon Bikindi has been sentenced to 15
years in jail for his role in inciting ethnic killings during the 1994 genocide
in Rwanda.
He is the first Rwandan musician to be sentenced over the genocide by the
United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) which is seated
in Arusha of northern Tanzania.
It is the second judgement delivered by the UN court this year and two more
judgements are expected to be delivered before the end of this year, according
to reports reaching yesterday.
The tribunal last month got its mandate extended by the United Nations
Security Council to the end of next year instead of to the end of this year to
allow it hear all pending cases of genocide suspects.
There are now 18 pending cases with 37 detainees awaiting trials while the
ICTR court has completed 38 cases. The court has so far handed down 32
convictions and five acquittals while one case is on appeal.
The tribunal was established in 1995 to prosecute suspects of the 1994 Rwanda
genocide that claimed more than 800,000 lives.
Thirteen people suspected of genocide-related crimes in Rwanda are still at
large.
