Catholic priest guilty of genocide.

Arusha -- On December 13, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found Athanase Seromba, a former priest of Nyange parish, Kivumu commune, guilty of genocide and extermination as crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to a single term of fifteen years of imprisonment, with credit for time already served since his surrender to the tribunal on Feb. 6, 2002. For the purpose of sentencing, the Chamber considered the accused's authority as a respected parish priest, trusted by several Tutsi refugees who had taken shelter in his parish, and his failure to live up to the trust of the refugees who thought their lives would be safe there.

Seromba was charged with directing militia that "attacked with traditional arms and poured fuel through the roof of the church, while gendarme and communal police launched grenades and killed the refugees." After fire failed to kill all those inside, Seromba ordered the church demolished. He even encouraged the driver of a bulldozer to attack it at weak spots which he pointed out.

On November 10, 2006, a Catholic nun, Theophister Mukakibibi, was sentenced to thirty years in jail for helping Hutu militia to kill hundreds of Tutsis, who were hiding in a hospital, during Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Jean Baptiste Ndahulmbla, president of the local court in Butare town, said: "She was responsible for selecting Tutsis and would throw them off the hospital land so that the militia could kill them. This nun was organizing people to be killed." She also held regular meetings with Hutu extremist groups and denied food to Tutsis hiding in the hospital.

In Rwanda's 1994 genocide, a hundred thousand people were killed in the southeastern prefecture of Butare. A number of Catholic and Protestant church leaders are alleged to have played significant roles in the 100-day massacre. More than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by the militias in a program orchestrated by the extremist Hutu regime then in power.

Some 63,000 genocide suspects are still detained in Rwanda today.