Roman Catholic Bishop Cleared of Charges in ’94 Rwanda Genocide

A Roman Catholic bishop accused of helping orchestrate the 1994 slaughter of more than 800,000 Rwandans was cleared of genocide charges Thursday and set free.

A court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove that Augustin Misago had participated in meetings during which Rwanda’s former extremist Hutu government formulated plans to kill minority Tutsis.

Misago was accused of being present when members of the former government discussed plans to kill Tutsis at roadblocks and in schools and churches during a 100-day blood bath between April and July 1994.

The 56-year-old bishop was specifically accused of ordering the killings of three Tutsi priests and of schoolchildren who had sought his protection--part of the seven genocide charges that the court dismissed one by one in the 90-minute ruling.

The highly publicized trial strained Rwanda’s relations with the Vatican. Misago is the highest-ranking Roman Catholic cleric among more than 20 nuns and priests accused of participating in the genocide; two priests have already been convicted and sentenced to death.