Rwanda genocide accused arrested after 22 years

A man suspected of orchestrating the killings of over 2,000 people during the 1994 Rwanda genocide was arrested in South Africa on Wednesday after being on the run for almost 22 years. The accused, Fulgence Kayishema, had since assumed a false identity. Over 8 lakh people died in the genocide wherein members of the Hutu ethnic group targeted minority Tutsis.

According to United Nations investigators, Kayishema, one of the world's most wanted fugitives, was arrested in South Africa. Kayishema is alleged to have orchestrated the brutal killing of 2,000 women, men and children at a church in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide in the central African nation.

He was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 2001 and had ever since been on the run using various aliases and disguises. The Nyange church attack is seen as one of the most brutal acts during the 100 days of the Rwandan genocide.

Kayishema was arrested in a joint operation by UN and South African authorities in the town of Paarl, in South Africa's Western Cape, according to a statement by the UN's International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

The investigators said that while Kayishema initially denied his identity, within hours he admitted that he had been expecting his own arrest for a long time.

A reward of up to $5 million from the US War Crimes Program was on offer for information leading to Kayishema and other suspects wanted for perpetrating the Rwandan genocide.

"Fulgence Kayishema was a fugitive for more than twenty years. His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes," IRMCT Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in a statement.

His arrest is another success for the ICTR, whose Office of the Prosecutor's Fugitive Tracking Team has captured five of the most wanted suspects linked to the genocide since 2020. There are now only three outstanding figures on the loose.

"This arrest is a tangible demonstration that this commitment does not fade and that justice will be done, no matter how long it takes," Brammertz added in his statement.