Dutch court sentences Rwandan man to life imprisonment for 1994 genocide

Life sentence delivered in The Hague

The District Court in The Hague sentenced Eugène N., a Dutch citizen of Rwandan origin, to life imprisonment on Friday for war crimes and complicity in the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi minority. Presiding judge Jacco Snoeijer stated that a temporary prison sentence would not do justice to the severity of the crimes committed. The verdict followed the sentencing demand of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service after a trial that opened in June 2026. The judges determined that N., who was a schoolteacher and local administrator in the southern Rwandan municipality of Mbazi, acted with deliberate genocidal intent during attacks in April 1994. Although convicted on murder and property destruction charges, the court acquitted N. of incitement to genocide due to insufficient evidence.

A temporary sentence would not do sufficient justice to the exceptional gravity of the facts.

The stadium massacre in Mbazi

The court found proven that N. took an active part in the massacre of approximately 3,000 Tutsi civilians who had sought shelter at the Byiza football stadium in Mbazi. Between 5,000 and 7,000 people had gathered in the venue believing it was safe, but extremists launched an assault on 24 and 25 April 1994. Attackers fired weapons, threw stones, and hurled hand grenades into the crowd, with judges concluding that N. personally threw a hand grenade at the victims. As a local official, N. also ordered Hutu fighters armed with machetes around the perimeter to block exits and prevent any Tutsi from escaping. Survivors were subsequently killed with clubs and machetes, and more than 4,000 bodies were later discovered in mass graves in the surrounding area.

Destruction of Tutsi communities

Prior to the stadium killings, N. participated in an organized campaign of looting and destruction against two local Tutsi communities in April 1994. During those raids, attackers sang the song Itsembatsemba, meaning let us exterminate them all, before setting Tutsi houses on fire and stealing livestock, food, clothing, and household goods. The court noted that N.'s presence as a respected local administrator provided clear backing and authority to the looters. The judges stressed that as a prominent community leader, N. held considerable influence and chose to participate directly in the violence rather than staying away.

Investigation and defense response

N. fled Rwanda in 1998 and received housing in the Dutch municipality of Ede. Rwanda requested his extradition in 2014, but because N. held Dutch nationality and no bilateral extradition treaty existed, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service decided to prosecute him in the Netherlands. The International Crimes Team initiated an investigation in 2020, sending investigators and prosecutors to Rwanda to interview dozens of witnesses, including survivors and convicted perpetrators. Police arrested N. in 2024 after prosecutors concluded enough evidence had been collected. Throughout the legal process, N. maintained his innocence, asserting that he stayed home during the violence, lost Tutsi relatives himself, and tried to prevent killings. Defense lawyer Frederieke Dölle stated after the ruling that the defense was seriously disappointed with the verdict.

Context of the 1994 genocide

The mass killings in Mbazi occurred during the nationwide genocide between 6 April and mid-July 1994, during which between 600,000 and 1 million people, predominantly Tutsis, were murdered across Rwanda. Human Rights Watch estimates that approximately 75 percent of the country's Tutsi population was killed during the three-month period. The organized violence ceased in mid-July 1994 when the Tutsi rebel force led by General Paul Kagame gained control of the country.