Genocide suspect arrested in Kinshasa

Col Tharcisse Renzaho, suspected of having committed crimes against humanity during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, was arrested in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and has been transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Radio Rwanda reported on Sunday.

In October 2001, the London-based NGO African Rights accused the DRC of harbouring Renzaho. In an attempt to encourage the DRC government to cooperate with the ICTR, African Rights released a 26-page charge sheet detailing Renzaho's alleged crimes.

African Rights said that Renzaho's role as an officer commanding Congolese troops came to light during the fighting between government and rebel forces in Pweto, Katanga Province, in December 2000. Renzaho was then reported to be commuting between Kinshasa and Lubumbashi in the DRC.

African Rights said Renzaho was the governor (prefet) of the Rwandan capital, Kigali, before and during the 1994 genocide, and that he was involved in the planning and execution of the slaughter of Tutsis and leading Hutu politicians.

"[Renzaho] had the authority and the resources to stop the killings, but he only did so in a few very public instances. More often, he intervened to sponsor or authorise massacres, directly ordering militia to round up selected groups, then to take them to be killed, or sending others to organise killings in his name," it reported. "The evidence suggests that Col Tharcisse Renzaho has the blood of tens of thousands of the people of Kigali on his hands. In continuing to harbour him and others like him, the government of [the DR] Congo risks undermining efforts to promote stability in the Great Lakes region," it added.