Jean Mpambara, former Bourgmestre of Rukara commune in Kibungo prefecture, appeared 29 April 2005 before Judge Erik Møse ( Norway) of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

In the 27 November 2004 amended indictment, Mpambara was charged with three counts including genocide, or alternatively complicity in genocide, extermination as a crime against humanity. According to the indictment, the accused, acting in concert with others, participated in the planning, preparation or execution of genocide against members of Tutsi racial or ethnic group in Rukara commune and generally in Kibungo Prefecture.

Mpambara, 51, is alleged to have recruited, trained and armed Interahamwe militias and distributed arms to civilians for the purposes of attacks against the Tutsi.

The accused was arrested on 21 June 2001 in Mukungwa refugee camp in Kigoma, Tanzania, and transferred to the Tribunal's Detention Facility in Arusha on 23 June 2001. He made his Initial appearance before the Tribunal on 8 August 2001 and pleaded not guilty.