Former Rwandan Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, the suspected mastermind behind the 1994 genocide, has died. Bagosora died at the age of 80 in a hospital in the Malian capital Bamako, where he was serving a 35-year prison sentence.
In 1994, an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by violent militias in Rwanda in 100 days. Bagosora held a prominent position at the Ministry of Defense at the time.
After the genocide, Bagosora fled and was arrested in Cameroon two years later. He was tried by the Rwanda Tribunal, where prosecutors labeled him the leader of the murderous militias. The then UN commander Dallaire called Bagosora “the architect” of the genocide.
The tribunal found the former colonel guilty of crimes against humanity in 2008. He was initially given a life sentence, but that sentence was later reduced to 35 years.
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