German Police Arrest Rwandan Genocide Fugitive

The German authorities have arrested a Rwanda genocide fugitive, accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide which killed about a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, the Rwandan authorities disclosed on Saturday.

According to the spokesman of the Rwandan General Prosecution Department, Jean Bosco Mutangana during a press conference in Kigali on Saturday, the genocide suspect, Onesphore Rwabukombe, was arrested on Thursday evening in the town of Gelnhausen, in the Federal State of Hesse by the German police.

“Its true that one prominent genocide suspect has been arrested in Germany. They are currently studying extradition documents for his possible transfer to Rwanda,” Mutangana said.

He added that the arrest was sanctioned by the German Prosecutor General’s office in reaction to an Interpol red notice following an international arrest warrant issued by the Rwandan government.

Rwabukombe is accused of having incited people in the former Muvumba commune to kill hundreds of Tutsis during the genocide where he was the administrator. Other charges against Rwabukombe include spearheading the massive arrests of Tutsis in 1990 alleging that they were ‘accomplices of the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)’ and many of these were to be killed during the genocide,” said Mutangana.

Rwabukombe is the third fugitive to be arrested in a European country since the year began. It follows the arrest of Lt Col Marcel Bivugabagabo and former businessman Claver Kamana by the French authorities.

This is the first arrest to be made by the European country, just a few days after President Paul Kagame, who is there on a four-day official state visit, urged the authorities to extradite the Rwandan rebel leader, Dr. Ignace Murwanashyaka, head of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He presently lives and holds a German passport.

The Rwandan leader also called on European countries to arrest all genocide suspects moving freely in their countries for them to face justice over their crimes.

Source African Press Agency

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