Rwamucyo Genocide Appeal Trial Set to Open in Paris

The appeal trial of Dr. Eugène Rwamucyo, a former Rwandan doctor convicted of complicity in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is set to begin before the Paris Court of Appeal this month, in one of the most closely watched genocide accountability cases in France this year. Rwamucyo's appeal trial is scheduled for June–July 2026. In October 2024, the Cour d'Assises de Paris sentenced him to 27 years in prison after finding him guilty of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity. The verdict was delivered on 30 October 2024. The court found him guilty of complicity i

The appeal trial of Dr. Eugène Rwamucyo, a former Rwandan doctor convicted of complicity in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is set to begin before the Paris Court of Appeal this month, in one of the most closely watched genocide accountability cases in France this year.

Rwamucyo's appeal trial is scheduled for June–July 2026. In October 2024, the Cour d'Assises de Paris sentenced him to 27 years in prison after finding him guilty of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity.

The verdict was delivered on 30 October 2024. The court found him guilty of complicity in genocide, participation in a conspiracy to prepare genocide, complicity in crimes against humanity, and participation in a conspiracy to prepare those crimes. He was, however, acquitted of the direct charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. His lawyers immediately announced they would appeal.

At the time of the genocide, Rwamucyo was Director of Public Health at the School of Medicine of the National University of Rwanda in Butare, now Huye, in Rwanda's Southern Province. He is accused of genocide planning, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy in genocide crimes, including participation at roadblocks where Tutsi were arrested and killed.

During the 2024 trial, multiple witnesses travelled to Paris and gave graphic accounts of killings in the Butare region. One witness testified that she saw Rwamucyo at the scene of a massacre in a convent where she and her family had taken refuge, and later at a roadblock in Butare, where she heard him encouraging militiamen to kill Tutsi so that none would escape alive, according to Associated Press.

French prosecutors had requested a 30-year sentence. Rwamucyo and his legal team denied all charges throughout the proceedings.

Rwamucyo had been arrested in France in 2010 while attending the funeral of Jean Bosco Barayagwiza, a convicted genocide perpetrator. Rwanda's Gacaca community justice courts had previously found him guilty of genocide in absentia and sentenced him to life in prison.

Rwamucyo is the eighth Rwandan national to be tried in France for involvement in the Genocide against the Tutsi, and, like all seven before him, was found guilty at first instance.

His appeal is one of three Rwanda genocide cases scheduled before French courts in 2026. Claude Muhayimana's appeal trial was due in February, while Safari Madjaliwa's first-instance trial is set for November–December.

The proceedings come days after France and Rwanda inaugurated L'Archive, a joint genocide memorial in Paris, marking a significant moment in the two countries' longstanding efforts toward accountability and reconciliation. Survivors' organisations and both governments are expected to follow the appeal closely.