The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) sentenced Lieutenant Colonel Ephrem Setako, head of the division of legal affairs in the Ministry of Defence in 1994, to 25 years of imprisonment.

He was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Setako was acquitted of complicity to commit genocide, murder as a crime against humanity and pillage as a war crime.

The court in Arusha, Tanzania, found that Setako ordered the killings on 25 April 1994 of 30 to 40 Tutsis at Mukamira military camp in Ruhengeri prefecture and around 10 other Tutsis there on 11 May 1994.

Setako's lead counsel, Professor Lennox Hinds, told Hirondelle News Agency that he would appeal against the sentence. The prosecution lead attorney, Ms Ifeoma Ojemeni Okali, said that justice has been done against the accused but would study the judgement before considering any step.

Setako was arrested on 25 February 2004 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and transferred to the United Nations Detention Facility in Tanzania. The trial opened on 25 August 2008 and closed on 26 June 2009, after 60 trial days. 

This was the second judgement by the ICTR for this year after that of Tharcisse Muvunyi, which was delivered on February 11. Muvunyi was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. The Tribunal has so far convicted 43 persons and acquitted eight.

Ephrem Setako was born in May 1949 in Ruhengeri Prefecture.

At the time of the described events, he was colonel of the Rwandan armed forces (FAR). As such, he led, amongst others, members of the Rwandan army, the presidential guard, the Interahamwe and Amahindure militias.