“Big-fish tribunal” nets one suspect, awaits another

Ignace Bagilishema, former mayor of a Rwandan town, arrived on Saturday in Arusha, where he has been charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and violating the Geneva Convention, Kingsley Moghalu, spokesman of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) told IRIN today (Monday).

Bagilishema was transferred to Arusha after being arrested in South Africa. ICTR prosecutors “had been tracking him down for three years through various countries,” Moghalu told IRIN. “He had been quite slippery but we managed to catch up with him in the end,” he added.

Another genocide suspect, former Rwandan health minister Casimir Bizimungu, was also expected in Arusha after being arrested on 11 February in Nairobi. Arrangements for his transfer “are at an advanced stage,” said Moghalu, who is also a legal adviser to the ICTR. “The tribunal has been very successful in arresting those deemed to have been at the commanding heights of the genocide in Rwanda and bringing them to trial,” said Moghalu.

About 35 people accused of being involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda are in the custody of the tribunal, most of them former cabinet members, top military leaders, senior media personalities and senior administrators. “This tribunal is a big-fish tribunal,” Moghalu explained. “We still hope to arrest another 30 to 40 more by the time this tribunal has finished its work,” he added.