Dutch Court Sentences Rwandan-Dutch National Eugène Ntambara to Life Imprisonment.

The court in The Hague delivered the verdict on 28 August 2026, finding that Ntambara was involved in crimes committed in the former Mbazi Commune in Butare Prefecture, an area that is now part of Huye District in Rwanda’s Southern Province. 

Dutch prosecutors accused Ntambara of participating in the killing of more than 3,000 Tutsi refugees who had sought refuge at the Byiza stadium in Mbazi.

According to the court’s findings, Ntambara participated in several attacks. Tutsi homes were looted and burned before attacks were carried out against people gathered at the Byiza stadium. The court also found that Ntambara prevented Tutsi refugees from escaping and threw grenades into crowds of people. 

However, according to the BBC, although Ntambara was convicted for his participation in the genocide, he was acquitted of the charge of inciting others to commit genocide.

The case followed an investigation by Dutch prosecutors that began in 2020, after Rwanda issued an international arrest warrant for Ntambara in 2014.

Ntambara fled Rwanda in 1998 and later acquired Dutch citizenship. Because Dutch law does not allow Dutch nationals to be extradited to Rwanda to face prosecution for crimes they allegedly committed there, Dutch authorities chose to investigate and prosecute the case in the Netherlands.

Ntambara was arrested by Dutch authorities in Ede in February 2024, following an investigation by the Dutch police unit responsible for investigating international crimes. Investigators travelled to Rwanda several times, visited locations where the crimes were allegedly committed, and interviewed survivors from Mbazi. 

Dutch prosecutors said investigators interviewed 40 witnesses, nine of whom subsequently testified during the trial.

The Government of Rwanda welcomed Ntambara’s conviction. Rwanda’s Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, Dr. Jean-Damascène Bizimana, said the case demonstrates that people who participated in the genocide cannot escape justice simply by fleeing abroad. 

In a statement on Friday, Minister Bizimana highlighted Ntambara’s role in the killings at the Byiza field in Mbazi. 

“the case was a lesson to other people who committed genocide and fled abroad. This is to emphasize that genocide is an international crime that does not become legally irrelevant with the passage of time and can be prosecuted internationally,” Bizimana said.

Minister Bizimana also praised the Netherlands for prosecuting Ntambara for crimes committed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. 

“The Netherlands has done an important work in bringing justice to the more than 10,000 Tutsi killed by extremists at Byiza Stadium, including Ntambara

Eugène,” Bizimana said.

He added that the case represents an important step toward achieving justice for victims and survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The Ntambara case also illustrates the continuing use of the principle of universal jurisdiction in prosecuting people accused of taking part in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.