The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) today confirmed the convictions of Aloys Simba for genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity, as well as his sentence of twenty-five (25) years’ imprisonment. Simba was convicted by Trial Chamber I on 13 December 2005 for his participation in a joint criminal enterprise to kill Tutsi at Murambi Technical School and Kaduha Parish, in the prefecture of Gikongoro, on 21 April 1994.

The Appeals Chamber composed of Judges Fausto Pocar, presiding, Mehmet Güney, Liu Daqun, Theodor Meron and Wolfgang Schomburg, dismissed Simba’s appeal against his convictions and sentence. The Appeals Chamber also dismissed the Prosecution’s appeal against Simba’s acquittal for the massacres at Cyanika Parish and against the sentence of 25 years of imprisonment imposed by the Trial Chamber.

Aloys Simba, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Rwandan army, was a member of the “Comrades of the Fifth of July”, who participated in the coup d’état that brought former President Juvénal Habyarimana to power in 1973. From 1989 to 1993 he was a member of the Rwandan parliament. He was arrested in Senegal, on 27 November 2001. His trial commenced on 30 August 2004. His appeal, together with that of the Prosecution, was heard in Arusha on 22 May 2007.

Aloys Simba is to remain in the ICTR’s Detention Facility pending his transfer to the country in which he will serve his sentence. He will be given credit for time served in the Tribunal’s custody since the date of his arrest.