Yvonne Ntacyobatabara Basebya

Yvonne Ntacyobatabara Basebya (born Yvonne Ntacyobatabara on February 8, 1947, in Ruhengeri province, died on February 24, 2016, in Reuver) was a Rwandan-Dutch woman who was the first Dutch citizen to be convicted of incitement to genocide, in relation to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.[1][2]

Biography

She was married to Augustin Basebya, a parliamentarian and politician who was involved with the extremist Hutu party Coalition pour la Défense de la République (CDR).[2][3] She was a member of or at least closely linked to the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (Mouvement Républicain National pour la Démocratie et le Development, MRND), whose youth wing was involved in the Rwandan genocide.[4][3]

She moved to the Netherlands in 1998 and became a Dutch citizen in 2004.[1][5] She was convicted in absentia by a gacaca court in Rwanda.[6]

Basebya was arrested on June 22, 2010, on suspicion of involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda after an investigation by the Dutch International Crimes Unit.[7][8] She was the second person arrested in the Netherlands for genocide after John Mpambara.[6][9] She faced eighteen months of pre-trial detention.[10] She was charged with abetting genocide, attempted genocide, murder, conspiracy to genocide, incitement to genocide, and war crimes.[4]

She was tried in The Hague by the Hague District Court.[11][8] There was not enough evidence to support a charge of war crimes, but her continued and public singing of the song “Tubatsembatsembe,” which called for the murder of all Tutsis, and her material support for those who committed genocide was evidence of intentional incitement to genocide.[2][5][12] On March 1, 2013, she was convicted of incitement (instigation) to genocide and sentenced to six years and eight months' imprisonment, the maximum sentence at that time under the Dutch War Crimes Act.[7][2][11]

The case was important for establishing a precedent for incitement to genocide in both Dutch and international jurisprudence, particularly for the relationship of national courts and universal jurisdiction.[13][4]

References
  1. "Dutch Yvonne Basebya jailed for Rwanda crimes". BBC News. 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  2. "ICD - Basebya - Asser Institute". International Crimes Database. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  3. Holá, Barbora; Smeulers, Alette (2016). "Rwanda and the ICTR: Facts and Figures". In de Brouwer, Anne-Marie (ed.). The Elgar Companion to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 71. doi:10.4337/9781784711702. ISBN 978-1-78471-170-2.
  4. "The Netherlands: The Prosecutor v. Yvonne Basebya, Case No. LJN BZ4292, District Court of The Hague, in What's new in law and case law around the world?: Biannual update on national implementation of international humanitarian law". International Review of the Red Cross. 95 (891–892): 743–761. December 2013. doi:10.1017/S1816383114000289. ISSN 1816-3831. S2CID 232248324 – via Cambridge.
  5. "Rwandan-born Dutch woman jailed for inciting genocide". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2013-03-01. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  6. "Rwanda: Genocide Trials". Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series. 47 (6): 18445B–18446B. 2010-08-02. doi:10.1111/j.1467-825X.2010.03334.x.
  7. Einarsen, Terje; Rikhof, Joseph (2018-12-07). A Theory of Punishable Participation in Universal Crimes. Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher. p. 435. ISBN 978-82-8348-128-0.
  8. Gahima, Gerald (2013). "Trials Based on the Principle of Universal Jurisdicrion". Transitional justice in Rwanda: accountability for atrocity. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-415-52278-6. OCLC 758394592.
  9. "Ibuka, Prosecution Welcome Arrest of Genocide Suspect Joseph Mugenzi". AllAfrica. Washington. SyndiGate Media Inc. October 28, 2020 – via ProQuest.
  10. "Hague court extends Yvonne Basebya's detention". Justice Info. 2011-11-18. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  11. Linton, Suzannah (2016). "Women Accused of International Crimes: A Trans-Disciplinary Inquiry and Methodology". Criminal Law Forum. 27 (2): 168. doi:10.1007/s10609-016-9280-9. ISSN 1046-8374. S2CID 254413704 – via Springer Link.
  12. "Une Rwandaise des Pays-Bas a été condamnée pour incitation au génocide". Le Nouvelliste (in French). March 1, 2013. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  13. Rikhof, Joseph (January 23, 2018). "Case Comment: Dutch Court Convicts Ethiopian War Criminal to Life Imprisonment". Global Justice Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
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