johannesburg
CNN
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I’m a most wanted fugitive rwanda genocide Arrested in 1994 in Paarl, South Africa after being on the run for decades.
Fuljens Kaishema is accused of killing more than 2,000 Tutsi refugees – women, men, children and the elderly – at the Nyanga Catholic Church. Massacre, He is absconding since 2001.
He was captured on Wednesday in a joint operation between South African authorities and UN investigators.
When he was arrested, Kaishema initially denied his identity, according to a statement United Nations team. But by the end of the evening he told them: “I’ve been waiting a long time to be arrested.”
Investigators said he used multiple identities and forged documents to avoid detection.
A senior official in the prosecutor’s office involved in the case told CNN, “The arrest was the culmination of a thorough, thorough and rigorous investigation.”
“Detailed investigation of the family members and known associates was done. This eventually led to the identification of the correct location to search for and locate the vital intelligence that was needed.
“Fulgens Kaishema was a fugitive for more than 20 years. His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes,” said Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the International Residuary Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) of the United Nations.
“Genocide is the gravest crime known to mankind. The international community is determined to ensure that its perpetrators are prosecuted and punished. This arrest is a concrete demonstration that that commitment does not fade and that justice will be done, no matter how long it takes,” Bramertz said.
At the end of the genocide in July 1994, Kaishema fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with his wife, children and brother-in-law. After relocating to other African countries, he moved to South Africa in 1999 and claimed asylum in Cape Town using a false name.
According to prosecutors, since his arrival in South Africa he was able to rely on a tight support network including former Rwandan military members, who went to extreme lengths to conceal his activities and whereabouts.
In recent years, the IRMCT prosecutor has complained about a lack of cooperation from South African authorities and there have been a series of near misses in capturing Kaishema. One report describes the failure to arrest Kaishema three years earlier.
But on Thursday, Brammertz appreciated the cooperation and support of the South African government.
The events in Nyanga, Rwanda were one of the most brutal of the genocide, killing an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu over a period of 90 days.
The tribunal alleges that Kaishema directly participated in “the planning and execution of this genocide”. The indictment says he bought and distributed gasoline to burn down the church while refugees were inside. Kaishema and others are also accused of using bulldozers to demolish the church after it was set on fire while refugees were still inside.
The church’s former priest, Athanase Seromba, was convicted of the massacre in 2006 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, which was later commuted to life on appeal.
Kaishema is due to appear in a Cape Town court on Friday.
A reward of up to $5,000,000 was offered by the US War Crimes Rewards Program for information wanted leading to Kaishema and other fugitives carrying out the Rwandan genocide.
With the arrest of Kaishema, the UN is still searching for three more prime suspects.
In 2020, another fugitive was captured in a Paris suburb after being on the run for more than 20 years.
Felicien Kabuga“One of the world’s most wanted fugitives,” who is reportedly believed to be a key figure in the massacre, was arrested in a joint operation with French authorities.
The Rwandan Genocide saw the killing of large numbers of members of the Tutsi ethnic minority by Hutu militias and civilians alike: men, women and children, many of whom had been their neighbors before the conflict began.
The killings finally ended 100 days later, when Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) troops led by Paul Kagame defeated the Hutu rebels and took control of the country.