loading…
Fulgence Kayishema, one of the masterminds behind the massacre of more than 2,000 refugees during the genocide in Rwanda, has been arrested after more than 20 years on the run. Photo/IRMCT
KIGALI – Former police chief Rwanda Fulgence Kayishema, who was labeled as the most wanted fugitive from his country’s 1994 genocide has been arrested in South Africa.
He was one of the masterminds of the massacre of more than 2,000 Tutsi refugees.
Fulgence Kayishema, 62, has been at large for more than two decades. He was arrested in Paarl on Wednesday in a joint operation by UN investigators and South African authorities.
He was indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 2001 with helping organize the massacre of more than 2,000 Tutsi refugees—including women, children, and the elderly—on April 15, 1994 at the Nyange Catholic Church in the community of Kivumu.
According to the court, Kayishema, a Hutu police inspector at the time, participated directly in planning and carrying out the massacre.
He allegedly bought and distributed petrol to burn the church while refugees were inside, as well as using a bulldozer to tear down the building, burying and killing the victims inside.
“He has remained at large since his indictment, using many pseudonyms and forged documents to hide his identity and whereabouts,” UN investigators said, as quoted by Reuters, Friday (26/5/2023).
“Fulgence Kayishema was a fugitive for more than 20 years. His arrest ensures that he will finally be brought to justice for his alleged crimes,” Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts (IRMCT), said in a statement.
According to the IRMCT office, operations leading to the suspect’s arrest were carried out in several countries across Africa and other regions.
