Rwanda: Genocide Fugitive Kayishema Re-Arrested, to Be Transfered to Arusha

Fulgence Kayishema – one of the world’s most wanted genocide fugitives – was arrested in Paarl, South Africa in a joint operation by the IRMCT Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) Fugitive Tracking Team and South African authorities.

Fulgence Kayishema, a top fugitive wanted for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was re-arrested on Tuesday, August 15, this time for transfer to Arusha, Tanzania from where his trial will commence.

The 62-year-old has been in custody in South Africa since May 25 when he was apprehended by local authorities after more than two decades of evading justice.

He has spent the past couple of months battling multiple charges in South African courts, mainly related to violations of the country's local laws.

He is one of the fugitives whose indictments were transferred to Rwanda by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) before it closed. This means that he will eventually be extradited to Rwanda after facing some preliminary processes in Arusha.

It is understood that South African Judge Patricia Goliath approved the international arrest warrant from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), and for this fact, his arrest for the international crimes was effected, and he will soon be on his way to Arusha.

Kayishema was indicted in 2001 and charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity for killings and other crimes committed in Kivumu Commune, Kibuye Prefecture during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

The indictment alleges that on 15 April 1994, Kayishema, together with other co-perpetrators, murdered more than 2,000 men, women, elderly and children who had sought refuge at the Nyange Church in Kivumu commune.

"Kayishema directly participated in the planning and execution of this massacre, including by procuring and distributing petrol to burn down the church with the refugees inside. When this failed, Kayishema and others used a bulldozer to bring down the church, burying and killing the refugees inside. Kayishema and others then supervised the transfer of corpses from the church grounds into mass graves," reads part of a statement from the IRMCT.

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