Rwandan-born Dutch national sentenced to life for 1994 genocide role

A Rwandan-born Dutch national was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in the Netherlands for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The Hague District Court found that the 66-year-old man, identified only as Eugene N., had taken part in attacks on homes in Tutsi communities and thrown a grenade into a crowd of Tutsis sheltering in a football stadium, and convicted him of war crimes and genocide.

"The conduct of the defendant establishes a significant lack of respect for human dignity and for human life," read a statement from the court issued after the conviction.

"Only a lifelong prison sentence does justice to the immense suffering that has been inflicted on the victims and the bereaved families."

Handing down the verdict, the presiding judge said N.'s actions were committed with "genocidal intent."

Rwandan genocide: How many people died?

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a campaign of mass murder orchestrated by Hutu extremists. Many leaders of the slaughter were tried and convicted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal that has now closed down.

N. was sentenced for his role in the massacre of around 3,000 Tutsis in Mbazi in southern Rwanda in April 1994, in which prosecutors said he was "personally involved."

"If the horrific crimes of the suspect, in which not one but an estimated 3,000 innocent people were literally slaughtered, in which the suspect personally threw a grenade into a stadium, do not deserve a life sentence, then what does?" one prosecutor asked the court.

Defendant denies involvement in 'horrific events'

N., who the court heard had held a position of responsibility in Mbazi, denied the charges, claiming he himself had been a victim who had lost dozens of his own relatives in "those horrific events."

His lawyers had argued that their client did "everything to prevent the genocide" and had called for an acquittal on all counts.

"The case has torn his scars open again," said one defense lawyer. "He is a broken man."

But the court found that the defendant's position of responsibility made his crimes even worse since he was "held in high regard" and "must have been aware of his role" in events.

"Instead of staying on the sidelines, the defendant committed multiple severe crimes," added the court, although it did acquit N. of the charge of incitement to genocide.

Defense lawyers told the Dutch ANP news agency that they will "almost certainly appeal the charges."

N. fled to the Netherlands in 1998 and had since obtained Dutch citizenship, meaning Dutch authorities were unable to extradite him when Rwandan prosecutors issued an international warrant for his arrest back in 2014.

Dutch prosecutors opened their own investigation in 2020. They have since interviewed dozens of witnesses in Rwanda and arrested N. in 2024.

Last month, German prosecutors also announced the arrest of a man suspected of being an accomplice in the Rwandan genocide.

Edited by: Rob Turner