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Rwanda Genocide Suspect's Arrest After 26 Years Draws Praise

James Butty

   The weekend arrest of Felicien Kabuga, sought for decades for his
   alleged role in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, surprised a neighbor in their
   affluent Paris suburb and gratified those working on human rights and
   justice.

   "I would see this man going out, maybe once a day, alone or with
   someone," Jean-Yves Breneol, a resident of the same block on which the
   84-year-old fugitive lived in a five-story apartment building, told
   Reuters news service. The neighbor said he thought the frail-looking
   man had lived there for four or five years. "We didn't know his name,
   nothing."

   Kabuga was arrested early Saturday in Asnieres-Sur-Seine, just
   northwest of Paris, where he had been living quietly under an assumed
   identity with help from at least some of his 11 adult children.

   French authorities said those children provided a large network of
   support for Kabuga. He was indicted by a United Nations international
   criminal tribunal in 1997 on genocide and six other criminal charges.

   "Félicien Kabuga's arrest is a major victory for victims and survivors
   of the genocide in Rwanda who have waited more than two decades to see
   this leading figure face justice," Mausi Segun, Africa director at
   [1]Human Rights Watch, said in a news release Monday. "Those implicated
   in brutal atrocities should take note that the law can catch up with
   anyone, even those who seem untouchable."

   A wealthy businessman, Kabuga is accused of funding and fanning attacks
   against ethnic minority Tutsis during a 100-day spasm of violence. It
   was touched off by the death of former Rwandan president
   JuvenalHabyarimana, a Hutu, whose plane was shot down over Kigali
   airport on April 6, 1994. Ultimately, more than 800,000 people were
   killed.

   According to Kabuga's [2]case file with the U.N.'s International
   Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, he owned Radio Television
   Milles Collines, a station that he used "to further ethnic hatred." He
   also allegedly helped establish a defense fund to support a
   paramilitary Hutu group and arm it with machetes and other tools used
   as weapons.

   Praise for collaboration

   Kabuga's arrest "is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can
   be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes,"
   SergeBrammertz, chief prosecutor for the mechanism, said [3]in a
   statement.

   The U.N.-backed mechanism assumed responsibility for such cases after
   the Rwandan criminal [4]tribunal closed in 2015 after scores of
   indictments and convictions.

   Brammertz expressed appreciation for collaboration among authorities in
   France, Rwanda, the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany,
   the Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland, as well as
   Europol and Interpol intelligence agencies.

   The U.S. State Department applauded Kabuga's arrest, calling it "a
   milestone for international justice, and a message for all fugitives
   indicted for genocide that they will be brought to justice." The
   [5]department's statement,issued Monday, also noted that the U.S.
   government offers up to $5 million bounty for information leading to
   the arrests of seven other Rwandans wanted for genocide.

References

   1. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/18/rwanda-major-step-toward-justice-genocide
   2. https://www.irmct.org/sites/default/files/cases/public-information/cis-kabuga_en.pdf
   3. https://www.irmct.org/en/news/20-05-17-mechanism-fugitive-f%C3%A9licien-kabuga-arrested-today
   4. https://unictr.irmct.org/en/tribunal
   5. https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-applauds-the-arrest-of-felicien-kabuga/

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