Name Georges Rutaganda Role Military Commander | ||
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Georges Rutaganda (November 27, 1958 – October 11, 2010) was the vice president of the Rwandan Hutu militia Interahamwe.
Rutaganda was partly responsible for the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Prosecutor James Stewart stated that "Without Georges Rutaganda, the Rwandan genocide would not have functioned the way it did." He was on radio RTLM (Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines) in Kigali in 1994, encouraging Interahamwe Militia to exterminate all Tutsis. It was alleged that Rutaganda captured, raped, and tortured Tutsi women in the Interahamwe Hideouts in Kigali. Other accounts state that Rutaganda captured Tutsi prostitutes believing them to be witches.
During this time, Rutaganda was reported to supply his militia with stolen supplies from the Rwandan military. Rutaganda was arrested on October 10, 1995, and transferred to Arusha, Tanzania, on May 26, 1996. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity and murder.
He died in prison in Benin on October 11, 2010.
In popular culture
Rutaganda was portrayed by Hakeem Kae-Kazim in the historical drama film Hotel Rwanda.