A court in The Hague has handed a life sentence to a 66-year-old Dutch-Rwandan man for his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Identified only as Eugene N, he was convicted of war crimes and genocide after the court found he acted with “genocidal intent.”
Prosecutors said that while serving as a local administrator overseeing about 1,000 people in Mbazi in southern Rwanda, he held a position of authority during the killings. The court heard he ordered Hutus guarding a football stadium not to let any Tutsis who were sheltering there escape. Inside, people were attacked with stones, shot, and had grenades thrown at them. Survivors were later killed with clubs and machetes, according to the ruling. The court also said he watched as homes were looted and burned in the lead-up to the stadium attack.
Rwanda had requested his extradition back in 2014. Instead, Dutch authorities opened their own case in 2020. More than 30 witnesses were interviewed before his arrest in 2024.
Between April and July 1994, an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in 100 days by Hutu extremists.
In court, N denied the charges. Through his lawyers, he said he was also a victim who lost family in the violence, and that the case had “torn his scars open again.” They had asked for acquittal on all counts. He was acquitted of incitement to genocide. His defense team told Dutch news agency ANP they will “almost certainly appeal.”
The judges said only a life sentence reflects “the immense suffering that has been inflicted on the victims and the bereaved families.”
