Former Rwandan camp commander transferred to UN tribunal's detention facility

A former high-ranking camp commander in Rwanda facing charges of genocide and other war crimes has been transferred to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania.

Lt. Idephonse Hategekimana, former commander of the Ngoma Camp, was arrested on Sunday by authorities in the Republic of the Congo acting on an arrest warrant issued by the ICTR two weeks earlier.

According to the Tribunal, Lieutenant Hategekimana allegedly ordered, transported and led soldiers and militiamen to carry out attacks against Tutsi civilians. He is also said to have watched an attack while preventing his soldiers from intervening and conducted meetings to incite massacres. In addition, he is accused of deploying soldiers to stop escaping Tutsi civilians and bring them to the camp for slaughter.

Lieutenant Hategekimana is the third of nine principle genocide suspects named by the United States Government in its "Rewards for Justice programme" to be arrested. The programme is supporting the Tribunal's efforts to apprehend high-ranking fugitives from justice.