Lt. Col. Tharcisse Renzaho, the former governor of the Rwandan capital, Kigali, planned massacres and rapes, prosecutor Jonathan Moses said. Renzaho's position as governor gave him authority over the police force.

More than half a million members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and moderates from the Hutu majority were slaughtered during the 100-day Rwandan genocide in 1994.

Prosecutors allege Renzaho made regular radio broadcasts at the start of the genocide urging soldiers and Hutu militia and civilians to kill fleeing Tutsis.

He faces life imprisonment if he is convicted.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 13, 2007
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