Fifty-four-year-old Pascal Simbikangwa is slated to go on trial in Paris, France for the role he played in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. According to Aljazeera, Simbikangwa, a fomer Rwandan intelligence officer, faces charges of “complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity.”  This is the first such case to go to trial in France, which Aljazeera reports is seen as an important step for French activists who hope to “remind French leaders of their role and responsibility in Africa, and mark the end of an era in which France provided a haven for those who committed atrocities abroad.”

The 1994 genocide killed more than 500, 00 people in the East African state of Rwanda when the Hutu ethnic group targeted the Tutsi ethnic group in a three-month killing spree.  According to Aljazeera, France had close ties to the Hutu-led government and has been considered to be complicit in the attacks that left hundreds of thousands dead due to their relationship with then-president Juvenal Habyarimana.

Simbikangwa, who denies the charges, was arrested in late 2008 on France’s Indian Ocean island of Mayotte.  If Simbikangwa is convicted, he faces life in prison.