Georges Rutaganda

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George Anderson Nderubumwe Rutaganda (born 28 November 1958) is a Rwandan war criminal.

Before the events of the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Rutaganda worked as an agricultural engineer and was chairman of his own business, which primarily worked with the importing of food and beverages into Rwanda for sale. He was a member of the MRND (Mouvement Républicain National pour le Développement et la Démocratie) and a shareholder in RTLM, which was the official radio station of the Hutu Power militants who carried out the genocide. During the genocide, he also served as vice-president of the committee of the Interahamwe, the Hutu militia, and in this capacity ordered his supporters to kill Tutsis.

Rutaganda was arrested in October 1995 in Lusaka, Zambia. He was indicted and charged with eight counts. In December 1999, he was found guilty of three of the counts -- genocide, crimes against humanity: extermination, and crimes against humanity: murder -- and was sentenced to life in prison. On appeal, the last of these convictions was dropped due to irreconcilable disparities in witness statements, but the sentence was upheld. [1]

At the conclusion of his trial, Rutaganda and several other Interahamwe leaders declared responsibility for the 1994 assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana. The assassination triggered the Rwandan genocide. Rutaganda justified the assassination, saying that Hutu hardliners felt the murder necessary to "rescue Rwanda from the insanity of the Arusha Accords".

Georges Rutaganda is portrayed by Hakeem Kae-Kazim in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda.