Almost 30 years after the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, two suspects are still at large with a sizeable bounty of R95 million for any information on their whereabouts.
- Only two suspected leaders of the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda remain on the run, as the 30-year anniversary of the slaughter approaches.
- The US and UK have called for international support to track them down.
- Each has a R95 million bounty on their heads for information that could lead to their capture.
Charles Sikubwabo and Ryandikayo (who has no first name) are the only Rwandan genocide fugitives that remain on the run ahead of the Kwibuka 30-year commemoration of the Tutsi genocide of 1994.
Since May 2020, investigators from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals arrested two fugitives, Félicien Kabuga in Paris and Fulgence Kayishema in Cape Town, and confirmed the deaths of another four – Augustin Bizimana, Protais Mpiranya, Phénéas Munyarugarama, and recently Aloys Ndimbati.
Ndimbati, then the mayor of the Kibuye commune, was present at the scene of and participated in the killings of Tutsis across Kibuye.
Investigators announced in November they had established Ndimbati died in 1997.
His death, according to Mark Simonoff, the US’ legal advisor to the UN, denied his victims and those affected justice.
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“Ndimbati’s passing cannot restore what was lost and is undoubtedly a disappointment to the many victims of atrocities,” he said as he addressed the UN Security Council Briefing on the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals this week.
Kabunga, 90, was said to be unfit for trial in June this year by UN appeals judges after he developed dementia.
Simonoff said although both cases reached a dead end, he hoped those affected found comfort in the fact the tribunal pursued them to finality.
“We nonetheless hope that the pursuit of these cases provided victims with some comfort that the mechanism and the international community did not forget about them,” he added.
The UK’s legal advisor at the UN, Chanaka Wickremasinghe, said his country was firmly behind the tribunal’s work in Rwanda, considering the Kwibuka’s 30-year commemoration in about four months.
Wickremasinghe said:
The mechanism’s ongoing work with the government of Rwanda remains essential as Rwanda looks to commemorate 30 years since the genocide against the Tutsis in April next year.
“Given the mechanism’s critical role, the UK is proud to demonstrate its support through enforcing sentences, and in doing so, it takes seriously its duty of care to detainees under the supervision of the mechanism,” he added.
The final two
During the genocide, Sikubwabo was the mayor of the Gishyita commune in Kibuye Prefecture.
He is suspected to have instigated the massacres of people in churches in Mubuga and elsewhere in the Bisesero area.
He is believed to be hiding in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ryandikayo was the manager of a restaurant in the Mubuga sector of Gishyita commune during the genocide.
He is accused of inciting a massacre at Mubuga Church by directing members of the Gendarmerie Nationale, community police, Interahamwe militias, and armed citizens to attack and kill those inside.
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Ryandikayo is also suspected of having a direct role in the killings.
There is a reward worth up to R95 million for information that could lead to their arrests.
Wickremasinghe called on all countries to cooperate with the tribunal to find the last two fugitives.
“We commend the Office of the Prosecutor for its work and echo the report’s [presented to the Security Council] call for continued cooperation between all states to secure the arrests of the remaining two Rwandan fugitives as soon as possible,” he said.
The Kwibuka 30-year commemorations will begin on 7 April 2024.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
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