Félicien Kabuga was targeted by an arrest warrant issued by the ICTR since 1997 - AFP PHOTO / MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS / UNITED NATIONS

  • Félicien Kabuga, 84, was arrested on Saturday in Asnières (Hauts-de-Seine) by gendarmes from the Central Office to combat crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes.
  • Wanted by international justice, he is suspected of having financed the genocide which caused the death of 800,000 people, mainly members of the Tutsi minority, in 1994 in Rwanda.
  • He may soon be handed over to the International Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague (Netherlands) for trial.

On the phone, Alain Gauthier still can't believe it. “This is wonderful news which has had the effect of a bomb. It must be recognized, we were surprised because I no longer had any hope that it would be found one day, ”confides to 20 Minutes the president of the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR). With Dafroza, his wife who fled his country in the 1970s, this retired teacher devotes his life to tracking down Rwandan genocidaires exiled in France. This is why the couple is delighted with the arrest by the gendarmes, on Saturday in Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), of Félicien Kabuga. "One of the last big fish we could hope to catch," considers Alain Gauthier.

On the run for 26 years, Félicien Kabuga, 84, is suspected of being the financier of the massacre that claimed the lives, according to the UN, of 800,000 people, mainly members of the Tutsi minority, in 1994. "It is a guy who was extremely wealthy, who bought thousands of machetes to arm the Interahamwe militias. He is at the origin of the creation of Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, which was a vector for the dissemination of hate between 1992 and 1994 ", explains Colonel Eric Emeraux, head of the Central Office for the fight against crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes (OCLCH). "He was also one of those close to President Juvenal Habyarimana", whose death in an attack precipitated the genocide of the Tutsis. Two of his sons are also married to the daughters of Félicien Kabuga.

"He is one of the designers of the genocide"

The old man, who fled Rwanda in June 1994, was one of the most wanted fugitives in the world. He was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) since 1997, and by a "red notice" from Interpol since 2001. The United States had also promised, in 2002, a reward $ 5 million for any information leading to his arrest.

It must be said that Félicien Kabuga is considered to be one of the "creators of the genocide," said Colonel Emeraux. “Genocide does not fall out of the closet, it is something that is conceived, that is organized. There are the designers, the intermediaries, and the performers. He is one of the creators of the genocide, ”explains the officer.

The building of Asnières-sur-Seine where Félicien Kabuga was arrested on May 16, 2020, considered to be the financier of the Rwandan genocide. - AFP

Before reaching Germany, Belgium and then France, Félicien Kabuga had taken refuge in Switzerland in July 1994, then in Kenya where he stayed several years. Gendarmes specializing in the tracking of war criminals learned about two months ago that his children were in the territory. Their investigations will then be directed towards an apartment in Asnières-sur-Seine which they will discreetly monitor.

At 6.30 am on Saturday, fifteen heavily armed soldiers finally broke into the building, located in a residential area of ​​this Hauts-de-Seine city, where he resided under a false identity. Operation name: "955", like the number given to the UN resolution that created the ICTR.

"The ideal would be that he be returned to Rwanda"

"This arrest nevertheless raises a certain number of questions which will have to be answered," emphasizes Alain Gauthier. How long has he been in France - one of his neighbors says he has seen him for three years? If this is true, did he benefit from any complicity other than that of his children? Wonders the one who has chaired the SCRC since November 2001, which has around 200 members.

He hopes that despite his advanced age - "which is not a mitigating circumstance" - Félicien Kabuga can be brought to justice quickly in court. “For me, the ideal would be that he be sent back to Rwanda, that would be really extraordinary news. I don't really believe it but it would be a good sign sent to the genocidaires. "

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Rwanda: Félicien Kabuga, considered as the “genocide financier” arrested near Paris

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