Search
  1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Congo, Republic of

Rwandan genocide suspect arrested

    NAIROBI

    A Rwandan genocide suspect, known as Jean-Baptiste Gatete, has been arrested in the Republic of Congo, a spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Kingsley Moghalu, told IRIN on Thursday.

    Gatete - whose real name is Jean Nsengiyumva - was indicted by the tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, for genocide and crimes against humanity, committed in 1994. As the former mayor of Murambi commune, he allegedly orchestrated the killings that took place in the southeastern prefecture of Kibungo.

    He was reportedly arrested on Wednesday in the small village of Ngombe, north of the RoC capital Brazzaville. According to the AP news agency, local authorities said he taught at a local college and was a leader of the local Rwandan community in exile. He had been living in RoC since 1996.

    Moghalu declined to comment on either the location or circumstances of his arrest until a "more appropriate" time.

    Gatete was one of eight Rwandans believed to have taken refuge in the Democratic Republic of Congo after the Rwandan genocide.

    In June, US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, told reporters in Nairobi that this group constituted the leadership of the Hutu extremist Armee de liberation du Rwanda (ALIR).

    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

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join