Augustin Ndindiliyimana (born 1943) is a former Rwandan general.
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Ndindiliyimana was born in Nyaruhengeri commune, Butare prefecture, Rwanda. He joined the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) and, as of 1994, held the rank of Major General. On 2 September 1992 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Gendarmerie nationale. [1]
From late 1990 until April 1994, Ndindiliyimana conspired with other high-level FAR officers to plan the logistics of the Rwandan Genocide. In early April 1994, he informed interahamwe leaders of a plan by UNAMIR force commander Roméo Dallaire to search for a cache of weapons, later used in the genocide. [2]
Following the death of President Habyarimana, Ndindiliyimana was one of the senior FAR officers to serve on the Crisis Committee, along with Théoneste Bagosora and Tharcisse Renzaho. [3]
Ndindiliyimana is mentioned frequently in Roméo Dallaire's chronicle of his time as UNAMIR force commander. Dallaire writes that he "had always found his [Ndindiliyimana's] loyalties an enigma" and initially assumed he represented a moderate voice in the crisis committee. [4]
In his autobiography, Paul Rusesabagina says that Ndindiliyimana was more of a moderate who did not seem to entirely approve of the genocide. He also notes that Ndindiliyimana was responsible for dismantling a potentially disastrous roadblock in front of the Hôtel des Mille Collines.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued an indictment against Ndindiliyimana and three other former FAR officers, charging them with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and related crimes.
On January 29, 2000 he was arrested in Belgium and handed over to the custody of the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania. He was being defended by Canadian lawyer Christopher Black. [5]. In 2011, the ICTR convicted him of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. However, the ICTR judgment recognised Ndindiliyimana's “consistent support for the Arusha Accords and a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the Rwandan government forces and the [Rwandan Patriotic Front] RPF and his opposition to the massacres in Rwanda.” He was sentenced to time served since his arrest eleven years prior to the judgment. The ICTR ordered his release but Ndindiliyimana is reportedly unable to travel find asylum.[1]
Ndindiliyimana's lawyer told Radio Netherlands Worldwide, “We haven’t decided on the appeal [...] We have to wait for the judgement. Some people say: you should just accept what you’ve got. But I think the conviction was very weak. My sense tells me there should be an appeal. That would be my recommendation. But it will be his decision.”[2]