Rwandan rebel convicted of killing tourists

A Ugandan judge today convicted a Rwandan rebel of killing eight tourists from Britain, the United States and New Zealand and a Ugandan tour guide who were on a gorilla-watching trip in 1999.

High Court Judge John Bosco Katutsi said he would determine punishment against Jean-Paul Bizimana, alias Xavier Van Dame, after a sentencing hearing set for Friday.

The victims included Britons Martin Friend, 24, Steven Robert, 27 and Mark Lindgren, 23, and Joanne Cotton, a driver for the London-based firm that organised trips to Africa.

Three other men were arrested in March 2003 in connection with the killings, and have been sent to the United States to stand trial in the deaths of the two American victims.

Rwanda rebels hacked and bludgeoned the travellers to death in a remote rain forest near Uganda’s borders with Congo and Rwanda where the party had gone to see the rare animals.

The rebels specifically targeted English-speaking people in a bid to weaken British and US support for the new Rwandan government.

“Members of the gang shared a common purpose of attacking the victims. Each of the members of the gang is guilty of murder,” Katutsi said in court. “This man was a member of that gang, and he is convicted accordingly.”

Defence lawyer Norris Maranga said he would appeal the verdict.

“Justice has been made at this level, but we are not satisfied. Simply being part of the gang does not mean he carried out the killings,” Maranga said.