Kigali — Roman Catholic Archbishop Thadée Ntihinyurwa, will July 21 appear before a Gacaca court session in Nyamasheke district, Cyangugu province, to answer queries related to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

Ntihinyurwa, 63, is accused of having been a member of the infamous Escadron de la Mort (Death Squad), which played a leading role in planning and executing the 100-day slaughter of the ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

The accusers say the Archbishop, who was at the time the Bishop of Cyangugu prefecture, participated in several genocide plots in the region.

Ntihinyurwa is said to have been a close friend to Agathe Habyarimana, who is believed to have been, together with her brothers and some senior army officers behind the death squads. Agathe was the wife of former President Juvénal Habyarimana. It was impossible to talk to Ntihinyurwa for comment, as his cellular phone was off by press time.

However, when The New Times called his Personal Secretary, Fr. Vedaste Nsengiyumva, he said: "You cannot talk to him; he is from a meeting and very tired."

And, when the matter was introduced to him, he added, "Just wait until he appears before the court (Gacaca). That's when you can talk to him."

The Archbishop has however been quoted by agencies as saying: "It is not the accused who must explain the accusations."

Agencies reported that Ntihinyurwa would respond only to written questions about the genocide.

Before he was appointed as Archbishop in 1996, Ntihinyurwa had served as the Bishop of the then Cyangugu prefecture for sixteen years.

Some of the clergy of the Catholic Church in Rwanda including the Bishop of Gikongoro Diocese, Augustine Misago, have variously been accused for participating in the 1994 genocide.