Philippe Hategekimana (Philippe Manier)
Context
Ongoing proceedings for crimes allegedly committed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Phillippe Hategekimana is the eighth defendant to be tried in France for genocide in Rwanda.
Type of jurisdiction
Universal jurisdiction
Suspect
Hategekimana, dual Rwandan and French national, former police officer. In 2005, he changed his name to Philippe Manier.
Country of residence of suspect
France
Charges
Genocide; crimes against humanity; participation in a group formed with the view to prepare the commission of these crimes
Current status
Indicted; awaiting trial; detained
Facts
Hategekimana is suspected of having participated in the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. He was allegedly involved in multiple atrocities in Nyanza and the surrounding villages in April 1994. He is accused of having assassinated a Tutsi mayor and of having participated in several mass murders, including at the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Rwanda.
In 1999, Hategekimana fled to France where he obtained refugee status.
In 2005, Hategekimana obtained French citizenship and changed his name to Philippe Manier.
Procedure
In June 2015, the Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda filed a complaint against Hategekimana before the French Specialized Unit for the prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture within the Paris Tribunal (integrated in 2019 within the newly created French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecution Office).
In September 2015, an investigation was opened.
In 2017, Hategekimana left France to Cameroon and in 2018, an international arrest warrant was issued against him.
In April 2018, Hategekimana was arrested in Yaoundé, Cameroon, by the Cameroonian police.
In 2019, France requested his extradition, which was granted by Cameroonian authorities. Hategekimana was brought before the French investigative judges and denied the charges. He was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention.
On 20 September 2021, investigative judges ordered that Hategekimana be sent to trial for genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity and participation in a group formed for the purpose of these crimes. The accused appealed this order.
Developments in 2022
In January 2022, the Paris Court of Appeals confirmed Hategekimana’s referral to the Paris Criminal Court. The Paris Court of Appeals additionally added to his charges the massacre allegedly committed at the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Rwanda, which had been dismissed in the 2021 indictment. The trial is scheduled for May 2023.
