Gaspard Kanyarukiga was born in 1945 in the commune of Kivumu, Kibuye prefecture, Rwanda. At the time of the events, he was a businessman.
Together with Athanase Seromba (see 'related cases'), he was accused of planning the massacre of some 2000 Tutsis in the Catholic Church in Nyange, Kibuye in April 1994.
Gaspard Kanyarukiga was arrested on 16 July 2004 in South Africa and transferred to the prison quarters of the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) in Arusha, Tanzania on 19 July 2004.