Rwandan genocide fugitive arrested in South Africa

A Rwandan fugitive wanted for his role in the 1994 genocide against the country’s Tutsi population has been arrested in South Africa, according to a UN tribunal leading efforts to search for the rest of those accused of inciting the mass killings.

Fulgens Kaishema was detained in the western city of Paarl, not far from Cape Town, nearly three decades after he allegedly killed more than 2,000 refugees inside a church during the massacre, the court said on Thursday.

The joint operation between South African police and a team from the United Nations is a further boost to the international search to track down Africa’s most wanted men and bring closure to the victims of the genocide, following some significant successes in recent years .

“Fulgens Kaishema was a fugitive for more than 20 years. His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes. , , Justice will be done, no matter how long it takes,” said Serge Brammertz, the tribunal’s chief prosecutor.

Kayishema is being sought after the arrest in 2020 of Felicien Kabuga, an alleged financier of the killings, who is due to go on trial in The Hague. The tribunal said last year that Protas Mapiranya, who led Rwanda’s Presidential Guard during the genocide, had died after taking refuge in Zimbabwe. Three fugitives indicted by the tribunal since Kaishema’s arrest are still at large.

Their capture highlights how the closing stages of the hunt for the final suspects of the genocide have become increasingly dependent on local law enforcement in African countries where most are believed to have fled undercover.

In 2021 Brammertz criticized the government of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for “one of the most egregious examples of non-cooperation my office has faced”, hinting that Kaishema was hiding in the country. Ramaphosa’s government promised better coordination in response.

Brammertz on Thursday praised the “extraordinary skill, rigor and co-operation” of South African officials and the “essential assistance” of Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s government.

“Kayishema’s arrest demonstrates once again that through direct cooperation between international and national law enforcement agencies, justice can be secured, whatever the challenge,” Bramertz said.

South Africa has also been under pressure to demonstrate cooperation in international legal matters after a global task force this year placed it on a so-called ‘grey-list’ of nations missing the mark in fighting financial crime.

The country has struggled to rebuild police and prosecutorial expertise, which had been hollowed out under former President Jacob Zuma.

According to his international indictment, Kayishema oversaw the burning and bulldozing of Nyanga Church by militia in April 1994. He will be tried in Rwanda, after his case was referred to the country in 2012.

Before it was closed in 2015, Rwanda’s former International Crimes Tribunal indicted about 100 suspects and convicted dozens more. Its affairs were transferred to the ‘residuary apparatus’ which is headed by Brammertz.

More than 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed in 1994, before a rebel army led by Kagame halted the slaughter. Many suspected genocide fled and spent years on the run from Rwandan authorities and UN prosecutors.