Harare — A former member of the Rwandan military who is accused of being a crucial player in the 1994 genocide in that country was arrested on Tuesday, October 3, in the Netherlands, Reuters reports .

The Dutch Supreme Court ruled in June of this year that Pierre-Claver Karangwa, 67, could not be extradited to Rwanda due to concerns about an unfair prosecution, prompting prosecutors to begin an inquiry into his involvement in the genocide. As a result, prosecutors began holding him in detention.

Karangwa was requested to be extradited to Rwanda in 2012 after the country accused him of being a prominent participant in the April 1994 massacre of over 30,000 Tutsis in Mugina parish, not far from the capital Kigali. Karangwa asserted his innocence of the charges against him in a court proceeding in December 2022 regarding his potential extradition.

Due to the genocide allegations, Karangwa, who has resided in the Netherlands since 1998, had his Dutch nationality revoked, theoretically opening the door for his extradition. According to the Dutch authorities, Karangwa may have been engaged in setting a house on fire that contained dozens of women and children after an attack on Mugina parish.

In August 2023, Fulgence Kayishema, a fugitive wanted for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was re-arrested in Cape Town, South Africa. This time he will be transferred to Arusha, Tanzania from where his trial will commence. The 62-year-old has been in custody in South Africa since May 24, 2023 when he was apprehended in Cape Town, first on allegations of Refugees Act and immigration law violations. It was later found that he was a wanted fugitive for genocide crimes in Rwanda.