Government welcomes arrest of genocide suspects

Rwanda has hailed the arrest of more genocide suspects in three European countries. On Thursday, three suspects - including a former minister - were arrested in Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Rwandan Justice Minister Jean de Dieu Mucyo called on the entire world to cooperate with the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported. “Given the cooperation of all countries, genocide perpetrators can be detained, therefore eliminating the culture of impunity,” the minister said. The three suspects - arrested on an international warrant by ICTR chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte - are former finance minister in the 1994 interim government Emmanuel Ndindabahizi who was arrested in Brussels; Emmanuel Rukundo a former military chaplain who was arrested in Geneva; and Simon Bikindi a Rwandan musician who was arrested in the Netherlands. The three - who are charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity - will be transferred to the ICTR’s detention facility, bringing the number of detainees to 50. ICTR spokesman Kingsley Moghalu described the arrests as “very important developments” in the work of the Tribunal and “another sign of the effective cooperation that we are receiving from states”.