Rwandan genocide fugitive arrested in South Africa – UN tribunal

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By Webdesk


Kayishema was indicted by a UN tribunal on Rwanda in 2001, but has since been free until Wednesday’s arrest.

Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema has been arrested in South Africa, the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda said on Thursday.

He was arrested Wednesday after being on the run since 2001.

Kayishema is believed to have orchestrated the murder of about 2,000 Tutsi refugees at Nyange Catholic Church during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, according to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

Fulgence Kayishema was a fugitive for more than twenty years. His arrest ensures that he will finally be tried for his alleged crimes,” said IRMCT Prosecutor Serge Brammertz.

Kayishema was indicted in 2001 by the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which charged him with genocide and crimes against humanity for murders and other crimes committed in Kibuye Prefecture.

Brammertz said the investigation leading to his arrest spanned multiple countries in Africa and beyond, and was made possible by the support and cooperation of South African authorities.

The Tanzania-based Rwanda Tribunal ended its cases in 2008, after which the IRMCT was established to complete its remaining work.

The tribunal referred Kayishema’s case to Rwanda in 2007, after that country abolished the death penalty.



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