Rwandan dailies highlight arrest of most wanted genocide leader Felicien Kabuga

23 Mai 2020

Kigali, Rwanda, May 23 (Infosplusgabon) - Rwandan newspapers this week were awash with stories focusing on the arrest of Rwandan tycoon Felicien Kabuga, a  mastermind of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, who was arrested on May 16 in France.

Kabuga had evaded arrest by international law enforcement agencies for more than two decades despite being wanted for Genocide and crimes against humanity.

The dailies also focused on the reaction by Rwandan community living abroad as well as comments by Rwandan officials following the arrest.

The New Times reported that the association of Rwandans living in France (CRF) indicated that there was no doubt that Kabuga had a network in France - and elsewhere - that aided him by providing housing, subsidies, means of subsistence and or any other support enabling him to evade arrest.

Angélique Ingabire, the CRF president told The New Times: "We've handed over our complaint so that all those who aided him to evade justice and the police can be investigated.

In an article titled, Rwandans in France want Genocidaire Kabuga's accomplices identified, brought to book, the organisation of Rwandan diaspora in France noted that it cannot be ruled out that Kabuga equally benefited from support by "individuals, institutions and or entities to get identity and travel documents, get medical treatment, travel, and so on" since it is already established that he was able to travel in several countries, and benefit from medical care, among others.

The daily also wrote that besides Kabuga, France is home to hundreds of other Rwandan Genocide fugitives.

Many, sources say, often changed names and locations to shed off links with their murderous past. Others just don’t bother as they feel safe in France, the newspaper said.

In another article, KT Press, a semi-private newspaper published in Kigali, added that besides Kabuga another wanted Rwanda’s major genocide fugitive Augustin Bizimana was confirmed dead by the UN Mechanism Office of the Prosecutor.

The paper reported that confirmation of his death took several efforts and according to the prosecutor, it is a result of an exhaustive investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor combining advanced technology with extensive field operations and involved exceptional cooperation with partner authorities in Rwanda, the Republic of Congo, the Netherlands and the United States.

With the arrest of Félicien Kabuga last Saturday and today’s confirmation, the Office of the Prosecutor said, it has now accounted for two of the three major fugitives indicted by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the newspaper said.

The remaining major fugitive, according to the paper, is Protais Mpiranya, former commander of the Presidential Guard of the Rwandan Armed Forces, and the Office continues to actively pursue him.

The Office is also actively pursuing five other fugitives indicted by the ICTR, Fulgence Kayishema, Phénéas Munyarugarama, Aloys Ndimbati, Ryandikayo and Charles Sikubwabo, the newspaper said.

In another article, a private daily The Chronicles wrote that Kabuga is accused of creating the notorious 'Interahamwe' militia that carried out massacres in the 1994 genocide. He also helped create the equally notorious Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines that incited people to carry out murder in its broadcasts.

“Felicien Kabuga is known to have been the financier of the Rwandan genocide,” the newspaper said, adding that the Rwandan tycoon had spent time in Germany, Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Switzerland. Kabuga is accused of using his wealth and influence during the genocide to funnel money to militia groups as chairman of the Fonds de Defense Nationale (FDN) fund.

According to the U.S. State Department, which had offered a $5 million reward for information about him, Kabuga through the FDN “is alleged to have provided funds to the interim Rwandan government for the purposes of executing the 1994 genocide.”

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/OKL/GABON2020

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