A former Rwandan military official suspected of playing a significant role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide was apprehended in the Netherlands on Tuesday, according to Dutch prosecutors.
Pierre-Claver Karangwa, aged 67, was taken into custody as part of a Dutch investigation into his involvement in the genocide. This investigation was initiated after the Dutch Supreme Court ruled in June of this year that he could not be extradited to Rwanda due to concerns about the fairness of his trial there.
A former Rwandan military official suspected of playing a significant role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide was apprehended in the Netherlands on Tuesday, according to Dutch prosecutors. Pierre-Claver Karangwa, aged 67, was taken into custody as part of a Dutch investigation into his involvement in the genocide.
The investigation was initiated after the Dutch Supreme Court, in June of this year, ruled against his extradition to Rwanda due to concerns about the fairness of his trial. Rwanda had sought his extradition in 2012, accusing him of playing a pivotal role in the massacre of nearly 30,000 Tutsis in Mugina parish near Kigali in April 1994.
Karangwa, who has resided in the Netherlands since 1998, had his Dutch nationality revoked due to the genocide accusations. This move theoretically opened the possibility of his extradition to Rwanda to face charges related to his alleged role in the 1994 genocide.
However, the Supreme Court rejected this request due to Karangwa’s status as an opposition politician.
Dutch prosecutors have alleged that Karangwa was involved in setting fire to a house that contained dozens of women and children following the attack on Mugina parish.
During Rwanda’s genocide, which was orchestrated by an extremist Hutu government and carried out by local officials and ordinary citizens, approximately 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed.
The Netherlands has tried and convicted other Rwandan genocide suspects before under universal jurisdiction, and has in the past also extradited genocide suspects to Rwanda.
