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A former colonel in the Rwandan army, Ephrem Setako, 55, has been transferred to the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, according to ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Jallow.
Setako, who arrived in Arusha on Wednesday, was arrested in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 25 February 2003 at the request of the tribunal's Office of the Prosecutor.
Setako was born in the commune of Nkuli in Rwanda's northern province of Ruhengeri.
In a statement, the tribunal said he allegedly planned, instigated, ordered and participated in the killing of Tutsi civilians in Ruhengeri and Kigali-ville provinces. He allegedly distributed arms to members of the Rwanda Armed Forces, the presidential guard, the Interahamwe militia, the civil defence forces known as Amahindure and other soldiers engaged in the killings of Tutsis.
ICTR Spokesman Roland Amoussouga told IRIN that Setako would appear anytime before the court to answer six charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
According to the tribunal, Setako is the 70th suspect to be arrested for genocide-related crimes.
Currently, 25 people are undergoing trial while 17 others are awaiting the start of their cases at the UN court.
Some 19 people have been convicted and three others acquitted since the UN Security Council established the tribunal in 1994, following the genocide in Rwanda, in which - according to the Rwandan government - some 937,000 people died, the majority of them Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
