He has been wanted for years by international justice. Augustin Bizimana, one of the main fugitives prosecuted for the genocide in Rwanda, died almost 20 years ago, a UN tribunal announced on Friday. The survivors recognize a "great disappointment".
Former Defense Minister Augustin Bizimana was accused of being one of the high sponsors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of 800,000 people. His death, which is estimated to be August 2000, "could be confirmed after formal identification of the remains of his body found" in a cemetery in Pointe-Noire, Congo, said the Mechanism of international criminal courts (MTPI).
# Mechanism Prosecutor Serge Brammertz confirms the death of Augustin #Bizimana, one of the main fugitives accused of having been one of the high sponsors of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda ... https: // t.co/xeg7SMLvXb pic.twitter.com/rHWrRviXHX
- UNIRMCT (@unirmct) May 22, 2020A "mysterious affair"
A series of genetic analyzes carried out in recent months "have ruled out the possibility that these remains are those of another person," said the MTPI. "Other evidence relating to the circumstances of the death of Augustin Bizimana was also verified," said the Mechanism, without specifying the causes of his death.
This structure based in The Hague is responsible in particular for completing the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), created by the UN Security Council in November 1994, a few months after the genocide. The Minister of Communication of Congo-Brazzaville Thierry Moungala said he was "perplexed" about the news, referring to a "mysterious affair". He claims not to know whether the MTPI had asked the Congolese authorities to carry out analyzes on the body.
Born in 1954, Augustin Bizimana had been indicted in 1998 by the ICTR on 13 counts, including genocide, extermination, murder and other inhuman acts. He was to answer in particular for the 1994 murder of the moderate Hutu Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, as well as ten Belgian peacekeepers and several Tutsi civilians.
News that "makes no sense" for survivors
The death of Augustin Bizimana constitutes a "great disappointment" for the survivors of the genocide, reacted on Friday Alain Gauthier, the head of an association of victims in France. “The greatest wish of the survivors is that the killers be tried. It is only justice that can bring them a little comfort, and when someone responsible for the genocide is tried, their honor is restored, "he told AFP.
"We regret that he died before giving more information on what he knows about the crimes he has committed and what others like him have committed," added Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, the president. Ibuka, a victim support association. He denounced the "weakness of the international legal system", saying that learning only now the death almost 20 years ago of one of the most wanted fugitives "does not make sense".
A major arrest
The announcement of the MTPI comes less than a week after the arrest in France on May 16 of another of the main defendants, Félicien Kabuga, alleged financier of the Rwandan genocide, who had been on the run for 25 years.
He presided over the infamous Thousand Hills Free Radio and Television (RTLM), which broadcast calls for the murder of Tutsis and the National Defense Fund (FDN) which collected money to finance the logistics and weapons of the Interahamwe Hutu militiamen. , according to the ICTR indictment.
"With the arrest of Félicien Kabuga last Saturday and the confirmation today of the death of Augustin Bizimana, the Office of the Prosecutor thus found two of the three main fugitives indicted by the ICTR," said the Mechanism. . The last main fugitive sought by the Mechanism is Protais Mpiranya, who commanded the guard of President Juvénal Habyarimana, whose assassination on April 6, 1994 is considered to be the trigger for the genocide.
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