Rwanda: UN tribunal and diplomats hold talks with Kenya on fugitive genocide suspect

The Prosecutor for the United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda and diplomatic representatives from 25 countries have held talks with Kenyan Government ministers to discuss efforts to apprehend the fugitive businessman Félicien Kabuga, who stands accused of helping to fund the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow and the diplomats met Kenya’s Justice Minister Martha Karua and Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Moses Wetangula in Nairobi yesterday, according to a press statement issued by the Tribunal.

Mr. Kabuga, who has been under indictment for genocide and other charges since 1997, has been tracked for several years by the ICTR, which said it believes he has been a regular visitor to Kenya.

He is accused of setting up and then operating a notorious “hate” radio station, as well as helping to fund and arm the Interahamwe militias responsible for many of the massacres during the genocide.

In the press statement, Mr. Jallow and the representatives from the diplomatic missions said they “appreciated Kenya’s commitment to pursue all available leads in this case, including, through the investigation of suspected associates of Mr. Kabuga; investigation and, where appropriate, seizure of assets and provision of any records relating to the accused movements into and out of Kenya.”

The statement concluded: “We are hopeful that these efforts will soon bear fruit with the apprehension and prosecution of Mr. Kabuga before the ICTR.”

Last December Mr. Jallow told the Security Council that previous efforts to seize Mr. Kabuga in Kenya “appear to have been compromised by leakages.”

More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus are estimated to have been killed during the genocide, which took place between April and July 1994. The Security Council later established the ICTR, which is based in the Tanzanian city of Arusha, to hear cases involving the most serious crimes committed during that period.