UN chief welcomes arrest of key fugitive of Rwandan genocide

United Nations, May 26 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the arrest in South Africa of Fulgence Kayishema, one of the most wanted suspects of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, a UN spokesman said.

According to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Kayishema, who had remained at large since 2001, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Paarl, South Africa, in a joint operation.

Guterres commended the cooperation between the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and the South African authorities for the arrest of Kayishema, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN chief, was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

In 2001, Kayishema was indicted by the defunct International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on multiple charges of genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity for killings and other crimes committed in Kivumu Commune, Kibuye Prefecture, during the genocide.

Kayishema’s arrest “sends a powerful message” that those who are alleged to have committed such crimes cannot evade justice and will eventually be held accountable, even more than a quarter of a century later, Dujarric said.