Augustin Bizimungu

{{Infobox military person

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| name = Augustin Bizimungu

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| caption = General Augustin Bizimungu

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1952|08|28}}

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| birth_place = Byumba préfecture, Ruanda-Urundi

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| allegiance = {{Flag|Rwanda|1962}}

| branch = Rwandan Armed Forces

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| rank = Major general

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| commands = Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army{{cite web|url=http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/Docs/ICTR/Bizimungu_Indictment_EN.pdf|title=Indictment against Bizimungu|publisher=ICTR}}

| known_for = Key perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide

| battles = Rwandan Civil War

| module = War criminal information
{{Infobox criminal

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| conviction =

Genocide (6 counts)
Crimes against humanity
Extermination and rape
Violations of articles of the Geneva Conventions

| penalty = 30 years in prison

| apprehended = August 2002

| criminal_status = Incarcerated}}

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Augustin Bizimungu (born 28 August 1952) is a Rwandan convicted war criminal and former military officer. On 16 April 1994, following the outbreak of the Rwandan genocide, he was appointed chief of staff of the army and promoted to the rank of major general.{{cite news|url=http://unictr.unmict.org/en/news/augustin-bizimungu-transferred-arusha|title=ICTR press release about Bizimungu|publisher=ICTR|date=15 August 2002 }} In 2011, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the Rwandan genocide.

Biography

Bizimungu was born in Byumba préfecture, Mukarange Commune, Mugina Secteur, Nyange Cellule, Rwanda.

An ethnic Hutu, Bizimungu held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the FAR on 6 April 1994. Some days later, in the wake of Déogratias Nsabimana's death alongside Juvénal Habyarimana, Bizimungu was promoted to major general and appointed as chief of staff of the Rwandan Army of the FAR, replacing Marcel Gatsinzi.{{cite book

|title=Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda

|last=Dallaire

|first=Roméo

|chapter=Ch. 11: To Go or To Stay?

|pages=292–293}}{{cite book|last1=Des Forges|first1=Alison|authorlink=Alison Des Forges|title=Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda – Extending the Genocide → Removing Dissenters|date=March 1999|publisher=Human Rights Watch|location=New York|isbn=1-56432-171-1|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno4-7-04.htm}}

Upon fleeing the country following the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) victory, he reportedly declared that "The RPF will rule over a desert."{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2195666.stm

|title=Rwanda's 'genocide general'

|publisher=BBC News

|date=2002-08-15

|accessdate=2008-02-06

|first=Helen

|last=Vesperini}}

On 12 April 2002, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued an arrest warrant for Bizimungu, who was apparently working with the Angolan rebel movement UNITA. In August 2002, he was arrested by the Angolan government and taken to the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in Tanzania.{{cite news

|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/rwandas-genocide-court-to-try-big-fish/article4138603/

|title=Rwanda's genocide court to try 'big fish'

|publisher=The Globe and Mail

|date=15 August 2002

|location=Toronto

}}

The trial adjourned until September 2008, whereupon Bizimungu was tried along with fellow FAR officers Augustin Ndindiliyimana (Chief of Staff of the National Gendarmerie), François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye (Commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion of the Rwandan Army) and Innocent Sagahutu (Second-in-Command of the Reconnaissance Battalion of the Rwandan Army).{{cite web |url=http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/profile/db/facts/augustin_bizimungu_325.html |title=Augustin Bizimungu |publisher=Trial Watch |accessdate=2008-08-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414001928/http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/profile/db/facts/augustin_bizimungu_325.html |archivedate=2008-04-14 |url-status=dead }} Bizimungu was sentenced to thirty years in prison for his part in the genocide on 17 May 2011.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13425546|title=Genocide against the Tutsi: Ex-army chief given 30-year sentence|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=17 May 2011|date=2011-05-17| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110517111829/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13425546| archivedate= 17 May 2011 | url-status= live}}

Bizimungu is portrayed by Fana Mokoena in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda.

References

Category:1952 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century criminals

Category:Hutu people

Category:People from Northern Province, Rwanda

Category:People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Category:Rwandan people convicted of genocide

Category:Rwandan generals