Father Edouard Ntuliye, a Catholic Priest who was serving a life sentence for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi passed on this week, The New Times has learned.
Ntuliye was convicted in 1996 by Kibuye primary court in the former Kibuye (current Karongi District) and sentenced to life imprisonment, after being found guilty of among other things complicity killing more than 60 Tutsis in Nyundo Seminary during the Genocide.
He, however, appealed the sentence but his appeal was rejected and judges upheld the initial verdict.
Prior to his passing, Ntuliye was serving his sentence at Rubavu Prison.
Reports indicate that his death was announced on Monday, by the Bishop of Nyundo, Anaclet Mwumvaneza indicating that Ntuliye had passed on from Kabgayi Hospital where he had been taken for treatment after suffering an illness.
During the Genocide, Ntuliye headed Nyundo Seminary. During his trial, he was accused of having directly killed Tutsis and also facilitate interahamwe militias to kill several others.
Initially, Ntuliye had also been found guilty by Gacaca courts which classified him in category one of the planner of the genocide and transferred his case to the conventional courts that handed him a life sentence.
He is particularly responsible of having killed his fellow priest, Father Adrien Nzanana.
Her also stood by and watched as his fellow Genocidaire priest, Athanase Seromba, used a caterpillar to bulldoze a church full Tutsis who had sought refuge. 2000 of them were killed in the church. At the time of the carnage, Ntuliye and other priests were drinking in the parish lounge without worrying about the last cries of the poor Tutsi.
Ntuliye, in addition to Nyange’s complicity, had an essential role in the massacres of Nyundo Cathedral where at least 20 Tutsi priests perished on the same day, and many other Tutsi from the surrounding area, peasants, religious and teachers.