Queen Dowager Rosalie Gicanda (1928[2] – 20 April 1994) was the wife of Rwandan King (Kinyarwanda: mwami) Mutara III Rudahigwa.

[3] On 20 April 1994, as the Rwandan genocide began in earnest in Butare, a detachment of soldiers commanded by Lt. Pierre Bizimana, acting under the orders of Capt.

At the request of a priest, Butare mayor Kanyabashi recovered Queen Gicanda’s body and had it buried in the yard next to her house.

It effectively signaled the beginning of the mass killing in the Butare area, which saw some of the worst atrocities committed during the fighting.

[5] On 19 June 2012, he was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda of ordering the killing of the former Tutsi queen, as well as other murders, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.