Mathayo Ngirumpatse, sentenced to life imprisonment, requested release

Ngirumpatse was the President of the MRND party that ruled Rwanda from 1975 to 1994.

After the death of Juvenal Habyarimana, he played a key role in establishing the Interim Government that implemented the Genocide against the Tutsi, led by Théodore Sindikubwabo.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) convicted Ngirumpatse of participating in the planning of the Genocide, inciting the Interahamwe to commit Genocide, and inciting the Inrerahamwe to rape Tutsi women and girls, and sentenced him to life imprisonment on 2 February 2012.

Judge Denis Bryon, who presided over the trial, stated that based on the gravity of the crimes Ngirumpatse was convicted of and the manner in which they were committed, the entire panel of judges found him to be worthy of life imprisonment.

Ngirumpatse was not satisfied with this verdict.

He appealed, requesting an acquittal, but on 29 September 2014, the ICTR Appeals Chamber upheld the charges against him in the original trial, upholding his life sentence.

In December 2017, Ngirumpatse, who was being held in Arusha at the ICTR, was transferred to Sébikhotane prison in Senegal to serve the rest of his life sentence.

On July 23, 2026, Ngirumpatse's lawyer, Me Frédéric Weyl, wrote to the President of the IRMCT, Graciela Gatti Santana, asking her to either release his client from prison or release him early.

Me Weyl indicated that since 1999, his client, who had been in detention for a year, had begun to suffer from health problems including worsening diabetes, Hepatitis C, high blood pressure, stroke and eye disease.

The lawyer explained to Graciela that due to the stroke, Ngirumpatse cannot stand for long periods of time, so in order to avoid falling down, as happened four times while he was in the shower, he walks with a cane.

He said, "He can no longer bathe himself.

Since his stroke, a fellow prisoner has brought him water, cleaned his cell, changed his bedding, and managed to do simple things including washing his clothes.

This problem has been going on for over a year." Ngirumpatse says that since Senegal has decided not to imprison people over 70 years of age, even if they are in good health, he also believes that he should be released because he is 86 years old.

Among the reasons that the IRMCT bases its early release on those it has imprisoned, include that they have completed two-thirds of their sentence.

For those sentenced to life imprisonment, this is equivalent to 45 years.

Me Weyl believes that based on this principle, Ngirumpatse should wait to apply for release on June 4, 2028, when he will have served 30 years in prison, at the age of 89.

He says that it would be difficult for him to be alive at that time and still be living the life he has been living.

Ngirumpatse points out that the principle of completing two-thirds of a sentence regardless of age makes the sentence a death sentence.

The lawyer requested that Senegalese law be considered, because if a prisoner behaves well in prison, 25 years is considered two-thirds of a life sentence, as each year is reduced by three months.

Although Ngirumpatse is requesting release, he continues to maintain his innocence, even though he respects the conclusion of his trial in the ICTR Appeals Chamber.

He says that he was convicted solely for having been President of the MRND.

In 2024, Ngirumpatse had also requested the IRMCT to release him early, but this body rejected it because he had not served 30 years, which is considered two-thirds of a life sentence.