[1] Gatete was originally sentenced after trial to a term of life imprisonment but the appeal court reduced the term to 40 years, reasoning "...the Appeals Chamber finds that a term of life imprisonment is the appropriate sentence for Gatete in view of all the convictions..." but "...Gatete’s right to be tried without undue delay was violated..." and as "...any violation of a person’s rights entails the provision of an effective remedy..." therefore "It is satisfied that a term of years, being by its nature a reduced sentence from that of life imprisonment, is the appropriate remedy for the violation of Gatete’s rights.
In 1993 he ceased his mayoral duties, but retained influence and exerted "cruelty" over the area.
He resided in a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) camp in Loukolela, northern Republic of Congo from 1997 to at least 1999, where he lived under the alias "Jean Nsengiyumva", and where he raised an apparently adopted boy.
Two days later, he was transferred to the headquarters of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.
[4] On March 29, 2011, Gatete was convicted and sentenced to life in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.