Key Rwanda genocide suspect arrested in DR Congo

Ntaganzwa is among the nine most-wanted fugitives in the 1994 Rwanda genocide which killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Siboyintore said. As mayor of Rwanda’s southern Nyakizu commune, Ntaganzwa allegedly played a key role in plans to exterminate the Tutsi people.

The first worldwide court to deliver verdicts related to genocide and to recognize rape as a means of perpetrating this crime completes its mandate this month. Several days later, it said, he helped organize another massacre.

Ntaganzwa’s capture by Congolese authorities in Rushihe during a raid on the local headquarters of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (known by its French acronym FDLR) appears to have become a source of leverage for the DRC in order to have fugitives repatriated.

The Tanzania based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has convicted 61 people for involvement in the genocide, including leading military and government officials.

“Ntaganzwa is also accused of making speeches calling for the elimination of Tutsis in the region and facilitating the killing of Tutsi refugees”, the United States bounty notice adds.

Ladislas Ntaganzwa stands accused of organising mass rapes and “substantially participated in the planning, preparation and execution of the massacre of over 20,000 Tutsis” over a four-day period, according to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Asked about Nkunda’s case, Busingye would say only that he does not know Nkunda personally.

Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, president of Rwanda’s genocide survivors’ association, Ibuka, welcomed the arrest saying Ntaganzwa must now face trial in Rwanda.

Announcing Ntaganzwa’s arrest, Jallow, “thanked the authorities of the DRC for their cooperation and urged them to transfer the accused to Rwanda for trial without delay”, according to the statement.

The eight include Felicien Kabuga, the alleged chief financier of the genocide, Protais Mpiranya, the former commandant of the notorious presidential guards and former defence minister Augustin Bizimana among others.