Washington, DC — With the inauguration this week of a new Kenyan president, Rwanda's most sought-after fugitive, Félicien Kabuga, has lost his protection, according to the United States ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues, Pierre-Richard Prosper.
"We now have an opportunity to bring Kabuga into custody," Prosper said in an interview on Thursday. On Monday, Mwai Kibaki was sworn in as Kenya's third president, replacing Daniel Arap Moi, who held the office for 24 years. "The sources of protection are drying up for Kabuga," he said.
According to a 1998 indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Kabuga - a wealthy Rwandan businessman - was "the main supporter and financier of the Interahamwe militia," which was responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that resulted in the deaths of close to 800,000 men, women and children. The United States has offered a US$5m reward for his capture.
But wealth and influence have enabled Kabuga to burrow deep inside Kenyan society. Although his photograph began appearing in Kenyan newspapers in early June, along with stories about the bounty on his head, he has managed to stay one step ahead of ICTR pursuers.
Moi told reporters more than once that he was unaware that Kabuga was in his country, despite the fact that the ICTR traced Kabuga to several Kenyan residences in Nairobi, Nakuru and Eldoret, including houses belonging to a nephew and son of the former president.
Rwanda's external security organization told the Reuters news agency in June that it had records of phone calls Kabuga had made from Nairobi to relatives in Brussels. And when Kabuga's daughter married in Nairobi in 1995, the bill for the 350-person reception was sent in care of Susan Matiba, daughter of one of Kenya's wealthiest hotel tycoons, Kenneth Matiba, according to a report by the International Crisis group published in 2001.
"There is an international obligation of all states to cooperate with the tribunal. We believe that the [new Kenya] president has made some very positive statements of reform and putting an end to corruption," Prosper said. "This fits neatly within that."
"In the past few months we have developed concrete information which has shown that Kabuga is in fact in Kenya and that he had been receiving protection from an official in the former government," Prosper said. In the interview, he named the official as Zakayo Cheruiyot, the permanent secretary, or senior civil servant, in the ministry of public administration and internal security.
According to Prosper, this information was "shared" with the Moi government, and the issue was raised with the former president during his visit to Washington last month. It will now be shared with Kibaki's government, Prosper said, "and we are hopeful that Kenya will work with us and take action to arrest Mr. Kabuga."
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It is "time for Kabuga to surrender and Mr. Cheruiyot to work with us to bring Mr. Kabuga into custody," Prosper said. "We're looking for swift action."
When Kabuga is brought is to custody, says Prosper, "it will be a big and important day for the Tribunal," which he acknowledges has been criticized for a slow pace and has been handicapped by tensions with the government of Rwanda.
