Athanase Seromba

{{short description|Rwandan priest (born 1963)}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Athanase Seromba | image_name = | image_size = | image_caption = | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1963}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | conviction_penalty = Life imprisonment | conviction_status = Incarcerated | occupation = Priest | spouse = | parents = | conviction = Genocide<br>Crimes against humanity }}

'''Athanase Seromba''' (born 1963) is a Catholic priest from Rwanda who was found guilty of committing genocide and of crimes against humanity during the Rwandan genocide.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shahabuddeen |first1=Mohamed |title=THE PROSECUTOR v. ATHANASE SEROMBA |journal=International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda |date=12 March 2008 |issue=Case No. ICTR-2001-66-A |url=http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/ICTR/SEROMBA_ICTR-2001-66/SEROMBA_ICTR-2001-66-A.pdf}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6175717.stm|title=Rwandan priest guilty of genocide|work=BBC News Online|date=13 December 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Rwanda's Unanswered Screams: Still seeking justice after the Seromba trial|date=28 February 2007|last=Venturini|first=Gabriella|work=The Hague Justice Portal|accessdate=28 November 2012|url=http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/index.php?id=7123}}</ref>

== Crimes == At the time of the genocide, Seromba was the priest in charge of a Catholic parish at Nyange in the Kibuye province of western Rwanda. He was convicted of committing genocide due to his providing of key and necessary approval for the bulldozing of his church, where 1,500–2,000 Tutsi were taking refuge, with the intent to not only kill large numbers of people, but specifically to destroy the Tutsi as an ethnic group.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shahabuddeen |first1=Mohamed |title=THE PROSECUTOR v. ATHANASE SEROMBA |journal=International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda |date=12 March 2008 |issue=Case No. ICTR-2001-66-A |url=http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/ICTR/SEROMBA_ICTR-2001-66/SEROMBA_ICTR-2001-66-A.pdf}}</ref>

Seromba fled Rwanda in July 1994. Catholic monks helped him move to Italy, change his name and also helped him work as a priest for the {{ill|Chiesa di San Martino a Montughi|it}} near the city of Florence using the alias Anastasio Sumba Bura.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/08/catholic-church-apologise-failure-rwanda-genocide-vatican|title=The Catholic church must apologise for its role in Rwanda's genocide {{!}} Chris McGreal|last=McGreal|first=Chris|date=2014-04-08|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-05-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Swain|first1=Jon|title=Priest accused in Rwanda bloodbath|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-athanase-seromba/181190901/ |newspaper= The Toronto Star|date=November 21, 1999|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Under pressure from Carla Del Ponte, the chief UN war crimes prosecutor, Seromba surrendered himself to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on February 6, 2002. On February 8, 2002, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and extermination as a crime against humanity. His trial began on September 20, 2004, before the Third Trial Chamber of the ICTR. On 13 December 2006, he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6175717.stm|title=Rwandan priest guilty of genocide|publisher=BBC News|date=13 December 2006}}</ref>

Seromba appealed the verdict. On 12 March 2008, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) decided his responsibility was greater than previously found, affirmed his conviction, and increased his punishment to life in prison.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7292081.stm|title=Rwanda genocide priest given life|publisher=BBC News|date=2008-03-12|access-date=2008-03-12}}</ref>

On 27 June 2009, Seromba was transferred to Benin. He is serving his life sentence at Akpro-Missérété prison at Porto-Novo, Benin.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200907020418.html|title=Nine ICTR Prisoners Transferred to Benin|publisher=AllAfrica.com|date=1 July 2009}}</ref>

== Notes and references == {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.hirondelle.org/hirondelle.nsf/0/78c1e1146ea6397ac1256b59005208f6?OpenDocument Fondation Hirondelle] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050506230346/http://www.trial-ch.org/trialwatch/profiles/en/legalprocedures/p212.html Trial Watch - Athanase Seromba] *[http://www.ictr.org/ENGLISH/cases/Seromba/ ICTR documents on the case]{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seromba, Athanase}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Hutu people Category:20th-century Rwandan Roman Catholic priests Category:Catholic priests convicted of crimes against humanity Category:People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals Category:Rwandan people convicted of crimes against humanity Category:Rwandan people convicted of genocide Category:Rwandan prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment