The World Briefly
May 26, 2023Nowhere To Hide
South Africa
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South African police and United Nations investigators captured the most wanted fugitive involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, a man who had eluded justice for more than 20 years, CNN reported Thursday.
Authorities discovered Fulgence Kayishema in the town of Paarl in western South Africa on Wednesday. He had been on the run since 2001.
Investigators said he used multiple identities and had received assistance from a support network that includes former members of the Rwandan military, who helped conceal Kayishema’s activities and whereabouts.
The UN’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) alleges that Kayishema organized and contributed to the killing of more than 2,000 Tutsi refugees – including women and children – at Nyange Catholic Church during the 1994 genocide.
He supplied the petrol to burn down the church while the refugees were inside, according to investigators. He and other suspects are accused of using a bulldozer to demolish the church after the fire.
The massacre at the church was one of the most brutal of the Rwandan conflict, which saw Hutu militias and civilians murdering around 800,000 Tutsis, as well as moderate Hutus.
The killings finally came to an end 100 days later, when Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) troops, led by Paul Kagame, defeated the Hutu rebels and took control of the country.
The hunt for Kayishame had hit a few snags throughout the years with IRMCT officials previously complaining about the lack of cooperation from South African authorities.
The US War Crimes Rewards Program has offered a reward of up to $5,000,000 for information on Kayishema and other fugitives involved in the Rwandan genocide.
Aside from his arrest, the UN is still searching for three other prominent suspects.
In 2020, French authorities arrested Félicien Kabuga, a leading figure in the genocide, in a Paris suburb. Kabuga had also been on the run for more than two decades.
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