UN ICTR
The Hawks said that a former Rwandan Police Inspector wanted in connection with the 1994 genocide in that country, has been arrested in a joint operation in the Western Cape on an Interpol Red Notice.
Hawks national spokesperson, Brigadier Thandi Mbombo, said the 61-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday and was wanted by UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for “genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwanda, 1994.”
She said he was arrested on a farm in Paarl living under a false name, Donatien Nibashumba, by a multi-disciplinary Operational Task Team.
Brigadier Mbombo said the man would appear in court on Friday on immigration charges and in relation to the Interpol Red Notice.
She said the Task Team obtained information on the fugitive’s whereabouts as well as photos from the IRMCT that led to the identification of the fugitive who was wanted since 2002.
“According to the arrest warrant issued and IRMCT indictment, the fugitive was the Police Inspector in Rwanda who allegedly played a significant role in the planning and execution of genocide where more than 2000 people were killed in 1994,” Mbombo said.
The National Head of the Hawks commended the team for their excellent work.
The man will appear in the Belville Magistrate’s Court on Friday and is expected to be extradited to Rwanda.
According to the United Nations the fugitive, Fulgence Kahishema, is "alleged to have orchestrated the killing of approximately 2000 Tutsi refugees – women, men, children and elderly – at the Nyange Catholic Church during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. He has been at large since 2001."
In reaction to the arrest, the Chief Prosecutor for the UN's International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Serge Brammertz, Kayishema's arrest "ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes."
"Genocide is the most serious crime known to humankind. The international community has committed to ensure that its perpetrators will be prosecuted and punished. This arrest is a tangible demonstration that this commitment does not fade and that justice will be done, no matter how long it takes," he said.
