Rosalie Gicanda

Queen Dowager Rosalie Gicanda (killed 20 April 1994) was the wife of Rwandan "Mwami" (King in "Kinyarwanda") Mutara III of Rwanda. After her husband died in mysterious circumstances, the Rwandan monarchy came to an end, but she continued to live in Butare, along with her mother and several ladies-in-waiting.

On 20 April 1994, as the Rwandan Genocide began in earnest in Butare, a detachment of soldiers commanded by Lt. Pierre Bizimana, acting under the orders of Capt. Idelphonse Nizeyimana, picked up the queen along with others from her house. They then took the captives behind the National Museum and shot them. Only a younger girl survived to tell the story of the murders. Two days later, the queen's mother was also murdered. At the request of a priest, the Butare mayor Kanyabashi recovered Queen Gicanda’s body and had it buried in the yard next to her house. She was about 80 years old.

The Queen was a living symbol for Tutsis, and her murder shocked many. It effectively signaled the beginning of the mass killing in the Butare area, which saw some of the worst atrocities.

After the genocide, a Rwandan military court found Bizimana and Private lst Class Aloys Mazimpaka guilty of genocide and the murder of Queen Gicanda and her family. ("Chambre Specialisée du Conseil de Guerre de Butare, case no. LMD 187, LP 0001-PS 97", Judgment pronounced July 27, 1998.) Bizimana was sentenced to death, Mazimpaka to life in prison.

External links

* [http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno11-4-04.htm Human Rights Watch | Butare Genocide]