Rwanda woman jailed for life over genocide

Rwanda: A former Rwandan minister has been jailed for life for genocide and incitement to rape at the United Nations-backed court for Rwanda.

Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, who is one of the first women to be charged with genocide, was minister for the family and women's affairs in the Rwandan government when some 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis, were killed in 1994.

She was accused of direct and public incitement to commit genocide and of being responsible for rape "as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on political, ethnic and racial grounds," the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda said.

The former minister was arrested in 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya, and taken to the U.N. court in Tanzania to await trial.