Nzabirinda (ICTR-01-77)

This case summary is part of a collection of summaries describing the cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). See the Online Resource Hub pages on the ICTR and International Criminal Law, and table of ICTR case summaries for additional information.

Source: Nzabirinda (ICTR-01-77)

Trial Judgment: 23 February 2007

Joseph Nzabirinda, the former Encadreur (organizer) of Youth and Sports in Ngoma Urban Commune in Butare Prefecture and founding member of the Parti Social Democrate, was indicted for his alleged involvement as an “approving spectator” in several meetings that led to systematic attacks against Tutsi families, and for his involvement in the killing of an individual named Joseph Mazimpaka near Kabuga roadblock, which Nzabirinda manned on two occasions. The prosecution charged Nzabirinda with a single count of direct responsibility for murder as a crime against humanity.

In 2007, an ICTR Trial Chamber accepted Nzabirinda’s guilty plea to aiding and abetting murder as a crime against humanity. The Trial Chamber sentenced Nzabirinda to seven years’ imprisonment.