Pauline Nyiramasuhuk, who was the Rwandan government's minister
of family and women's affairs during the 1994 ethnic war, was
found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
of charges of direct, public incitement to commit genocide and
of rape as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a
civilian population on political, ethnic and racial grounds. She
is the first woman convicted of genocide by the tribunal. Also
convicted is Nyiramasuhuk's son, Arsene Shalom Ntahobali.
Ntahobali was a militia leader during the genocide. He was
charged with crimes against humanity, which included rape and
war crimes. Both Ntahobali and his mother have been sentenced to
life in prison. The court alleged that the mother and son helped
to organize the massacres in the Butare region of Rwanda. They
were both implicit in the abduction of hundreds of Tutsis who
would eventually be executed. Both have been in the court's
custody since 2001. Many were physically assaulted, raped and
taken away to various pl