International
Francois Karera, the man behind Tutsi massacres at Ntarama and Nyamata Churches
The Churches of Nyamata and Ntarama were converted into
genocide memorials after the killings of Tutsi inside those churches during the
1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The memorials contain human remains, clothing,
and artefacts belonging to the Tutsi who were killed at the churches.
One notorious killer who organised those massacres is
Francois Karera. He died on May 10 in a Benin
prison where he was serving his life sentence since 2009.
Karera was incarcerated with other five convicted
genocidaires who were given lengthy sentences by the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR): Gerard Ntakirutimana, Juvenal Kajelijeli, Emmanuel
Ndindabahizi, Juvenal Rugambarara and Athanase Seromba.
Karera who was
convicted of complicity in genocide, extermination and murder as crimes against
humanity was born in 1939 from former Musasa Commune in former Rural Kigali,
currently in Rulindo District.
He was appointed Préfet of Rural-Kigali in April 1994
due to his role in persecuting the Tutsi in Bugesera region before 1994. Then
he was Sous-Préfet of Bugesera and killed a big number of Tutsi in the infamous
“Bugesera Tutsi massacres” of 1992.
From 1975 to 1990, Karera was Bourgmestre of
Nyarugenge urban commune, an administrative unit which was later replaced by
Kigali-Ville prefecture. He was also at one time the President of the MRND
party in Nyarugenge commune.
Karera was convicted of the crimes of genocide
committed between April and mid-July 1994, in different distinct areas like in Rwezamenyo
Sector, Nyarugenge District, Ntarama and Nyamata Sectors in Bugesera District
and other different places.
Karera lived in the Nyamirambo area of Kigali. As
former Mayor of Nyarugenge he spearheaded the campaign to kill the Tutsi and
destroy their homes in Nyamirambo area which was inhabited by a big number of
Tutsi.
Among those that were killed as a direct consequence
of Karera’s acts are Rukemampunzi, Mazimpaka, Joseph Kahabaye, Leonard, Murekezi
and his three children, Kabuguza, Enode Ndoli, John, Nana, Bosco and Kazadi who
were all killed on April 7, 1994 by Interahamwe and three communal policemen who were stationed at
a roadblock in front of Karera's house.
On December 7, 2007, the ICTR Appeals Chamber found
Karera guilty of genocide and extermination and murder as crimes against
humanity, for his participation in the killing of the Tutsi in Nyamirambo at
Ntarama and Nyamata churches, and in former Rushashi commune currently in Rulindo District. The Appeals
Chamber affirmed Karera’s convictions for instigating and committing genocide,
and for extermination and murder as crimes against humanity.
After fleeing to Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), Karera continued the anti-Tutsi campaign. This included openly
justifying the killing of Tutsi civilians by denying the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Between July and December 1994, Karera and several other former genocidal
government officials convened a meeting in a refugee camp in Zaire to develop a
strategy to regain power.
Discussions at the meeting included references to the
mission of killing all the Tutsi. Karera suggested fund-raising activities to
purchase weapons. Karera suggested to schoolteachers at Katale refugee camp
schools that instead of teaching children mathematics and academic subjects,
they should concentrate on teaching them that there was only one enemy, the
Tutsi.