A former Rwandan army officer suspected of genocide, notably for his role in the massacre of tens of thousands of Tutsi in Mugina in 1994, has been arrested in the Netherlands, where he has lived since 1998, Dutch prosecutors have announced Friday May 13.
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The Dutch authorities havearrested a 65-year-old Rwandan man from Ermelo (east) on Wednesday May 11, 2022“, announced the prosecution in a press release, specifying that the latter was “Gendarmerie officer in Rwanda in 1994“, without further details on his identity. According to the Rwandan authorities, who requested his extradition, the suspectplayed a key role in massacres in the capital Kigali and in the municipality of Mugina (center)in April 1994, the prosecution added.
In April 1994, thousands of Tutsi civilians fleeing the violence of military and civilian militias sought refuge in a neighboring parish of Mugina. Several massacres took place there between April 21 and 26, 1994. It is estimated that 30,000 civilians were killed in the massacre of this parish, which is commemorated each year, the prosecution said.
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Revocation of his Dutch nationality in 2013
Rwandan authorities accuse the suspect of leading a rally before the massacres calling for the attack and death of Tutsi civilians, and of supplying weapons to militias who killed Tutsi refugees. They also claim that he participated in the murder of the mayor of Mugina before the massacres, who had tried to protect the Tutsi refugees in his commune. According to eyewitnesses quoted by the prosecution, the suspect also provided fuel which allowed the burning of a house in which some 80 Tutsi civilians had been taken who had managed to flee the massacre in the parish.
The man was granted asylum in the Netherlands in 1999 and granted Dutch citizenship in 2002. Due to suspicions of involvement in the genocide, authorities in 2013 revoked his Dutch citizenship, and prosecutions have been launched. On Wednesday, the highest Dutch administrative court rejected an appeal against the withdrawal of his Dutch nationality, which meant that there were no longer any obstacles to the arrest and possible extradition of this man to Rwanda. He was to be presented to the investigating judge at the district court in The Hague (south) on Friday. An estimated 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu died in 100 days of massacre in 1994 during which Hutu militiamen massacred Tutsi hiding in churches and schools.
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