On Thursday, February 26, 2025, the trial of Béatrice Munyenyezi commenced at the High Court for International and Cross-Border Crimes in Nyanza, after she appealed the life sentence ruling delivered by the Huye Intermediate Court.
Munyenyezi rejected the court's decision, claiming she should have been acquitted, arguing that the accusations against her stem from her family ties to relatives who were convicted of Genocide crimes.
Following the prosecution's presentation on February 25, 2025, which detailed the basis for Munyenyezi's conviction for murder, they continued the next day to justify the life imprisonment sentence by highlighting her role in facilitating the rape of women during the genocide.
The prosecution referenced a 2012 witness testimony in which the witness recounted approaching Munyenyezi to request documentation proving they were Hutu to escape persecution, as they belonged to the Tutsi ethnic group targeted during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The witness described encountering Munyenyezi wearing a military shirt and holding a club before being taken to the Ihuriro Hotel. Upon reaching a roadblock near the hotel, the witness allegedly saw Munyenyezi's mother-in-law, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, and her husband, Ntahobari Arsène Shalom.
At the roadblock, the witness claimed to have seen young women being brought in, some of whom recognized Munyenyezi and cried out, saying, "You studied with us at university, are you going to have us killed too?"
According to the prosecution, instead of killing these women, Munyenyezi allegedly ordered them to be taken to the cave beneath the Ihuriro Hotel, where the witness later heard screams of distress.
When questioned by the judge whether the screams implied the women were being sexually assaulted, the prosecution admitted that the initial trial had not fully examined this charge, and they would seek additional evidence to support the claim.
Munyenyezi is the daughter-in-law of Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, who served as the Minister of Family Welfare in Rwanda's interim government during the Genocide. Her husband, Ntahobari Arsène Shalom, was also convicted of genocide crimes.
Munyenyezi was extradited to Rwanda from the United States in April 2021. On April 12, 2024, the Huye Intermediate Court sentenced her to life imprisonment.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for April 15, 2025, during which the prosecution will continue presenting its arguments supporting the sentence.
IGIHE
