Bernard Munyagishari

{{Infobox criminal

|image = File:Bernard Munyagishari.jpg

| image_size = 250px

|birth_date = {{circa}} {{birth year and age|1959}}

|birth_place= Gisenyi, Ruanda-Urundi

|conviction = Crime Against Humanity

|occupation = Military

| allegiance = {{flag|Rwanda|1962}}

|apprehended = 25 May 2011

|penalty = Life imprisonment (2017)

| party = MRND{{Cite web|url=https://taz.de/!5119869/|title=Festnahme im Kongo: Ruandischer Milizenchef geschnappt|first=Simone|last=Schlindwein|work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |date=May 26, 2011|accessdate=Oct 1, 2020|via=taz.de}}

}}

Bernard Munyagishari is a Hutu man accused of having had a prominent role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. According to the 2005 indictment against him, as a commander of the Interahamwe, he created a special unit for the rape and murder of Tutsi women.{{Cite web |url=http://worldnews.about.com/od/rwanda/ig/Wanted-for-Rwandan-Genocide/Bernard-Munyagishari.htm |title=Wanted for the Rwandan Genocide |access-date=2008-06-09 |archive-date=2013-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515135535/http://worldnews.about.com/od/rwanda/ig/Wanted-for-Rwandan-Genocide/Bernard-Munyagishari.htm |url-status=dead }} and also the massacre of Rwanda Patriotic Front led by Paul Kagame. He was arrested on 26 May 2011 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.,[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13566368 Rwanda: Bernard Munyagishari arrested for genocide.] BBC News, May 26, 2011 he was 52 years old at the time of his arrest.

And he was transferred to the ICTR on July 24, 2013. His case has been detained due to numerous obstacles. He argued that since he was Congolese, he did not understand the Rwandan language, Kinyarwanda. On April 20, 2017, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the judges of the ICTR. He appealed, the appeal process is still pending.{{Cite web|url=https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/tribunals/national-tribunals/40703-rwanda-suspect-transfers-signal-new-stage-in-genocide-trials.html|title=Rwanda: Suspect transfers signal new stage in genocide trials|website=www.justiceinfo.net|date=25 March 2019 |accessdate=Oct 1, 2020}}{{Cite web |url=https://trialinternational.org/latest-post/bernard-munyagishari/ |title=Bernard Munyagishari - TRIAL International |access-date=2020-05-15 |archive-date=2019-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822172645/https://trialinternational.org/latest-post/bernard-munyagishari/ |url-status=dead }}

In 2020, Munyagishari was transferred back to Rwanda. In front of the appeals court, he pleaded guilty of genocide.{{cite web |url=https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/76230-rwanda-surprising-confessions-bernard-munyagishari.html |title=In Rwanda, the surprising confessions of Bernard Munyagishari |date=20 April 2021 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/181544/News/genocide-convict-munyagishari-enters-guilty-plea-during-appeal |title=Genocide convict Munyagishari enters guilty plea during appeal |date=12 November 2020 }}