APA-Cape Town (South Africa) Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema has been arrested in South Africa after 29 years on the run, the United Nations’ International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) announced on Thursday.
IRMCT chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said Kayishema was arrested in South Africa’s Western Cape province following a joint operation by UN and South African authorities.
“His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes,” Brammertz said in a statement.
A former Rwandan police officer, Kayishema has been on the run since 2001 when he was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for allegedly orchestrating the brutal murder of more than 2,000 people at a church in April 1994.
He was living under a false name at the time of his arrest and initially denied his identity, according to Brammertz.
He was detained by the South African police and members of a tracking team from the Rwandan war crimes tribunal based in Arusha, Tanzania.
JN/APA