France’s justice ministry announce the capture of Rwandan genocide suspect in Paris after 26 years on the run

France’s justice ministry announce the capture of Rwandan genocide suspect in Paris after 26 years on the run

THE French justice ministry has announced that Felicien Kabuga, a Rwandan genocide suspect who is accused of funding militias that massacred around 800,000 people, was arrested on Saturday near Paris after 26 years on the run.

Rwanda’s most-wanted man and had a $5 million US bounty on his head was living under a false identity in an apartment in Asnieres-Sur-Seine.

French gendarmes arrested the 84-year-old at 05.30 GMT on Saturday.

Kabuga was indicted in 1997 on seven criminal counts including genocide, complicity in genocide and incitement to commit genocide, all in relation to the 1994 Rwanda genocide, according to the UN-established International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

Rwanda’s two main ethnic groups are the Hutus and Tutsis, who have an antagonistic relationship and fought a civil war in the early 1990s. A Hutu businessman, Kabuga is accused of funding the militias that massacred some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus over a span of 100 days in 1994.

Two other Rwandan genocide suspects, Augustin Bizimana and Protais Mpiranya, are still on the run from international justice.

“The arrest of Félicien Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes,” IRMCT’s Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in a statement. He added the arrest was the result of a joint operation between law enforcement agencies in France and other countries including the US, Rwanda, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands among others.