Genocide fugitive arrested in Kigali living 'a new life'

Police in Kigali have arrested a man wanted for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who has been living in the country masquerading as a Tanzanian national.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Minani speaks to the media at Kicukiro Police Station yesterday. (Courtesy)

Police in Kigali have arrested a man wanted for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who has been living in the country masquerading as a Tanzanian national.

Hussein Minani, who had acquired a Tanzanian citizenship under the alias name, Hussein Abdul Kitumba Mujandi, was arrested last week in Remera, Gasabo District.

The 48-year-old was yesterday paraded before journalists at Kicukiro Police Station where he is currently detained.

Police spokesperson Celestin Twahirwa said Minani is wanted for genocide, extermination as a crime against humanity, murder and rape during the Genocide.

He is accused of committing the offences in former Butare Prefecture in Ngoma commune, now Huye District.

According to his indictment, Minani, a truck driver who has been transiting between Tanzania and Rwanda under the alias name, transported Interahamwe militia as they went on rampage in Butare and actively participated in the killing of Tutsi students and staff at the National University of Rwanda (now University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Science).

Together with the militia, Minani is also said to have led a raid in which Mukura Victory Sports coach Charles Sitaki along with his friend, only identified as Kamina, were killed. The raid was on the latter’s home where they were hiding.

"After getting information about Minani’s role in the Genocide and the crimes he committed, the Criminal Investigation Department compiled a detailed a report and forwarded it to prosecution,” Twahirwa said.

"The Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit then released an international arrest warrant, but at the same time Interpol also issued a red notice on November 30, last year, after acquiring information of his possible whereabouts and detailed information about him, to track him down,” he added.

Twahirwa called upon anyone with information on any fugitive, "regardless of which part of the world they may be in, to come forward and inform the police and the fugitive will tracked down.”

Speaking to journalists, Minani, who said he was a driver employed by Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, the minister for family promotion in the genocidal regime who was convicted for committing genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), denied any role in the Genocide.

He said he has been frequenting to Rwanda bringing new imported vehicles from the Port of Dar es Salaam disguised as Tanzanian.

"Minani was arrested following information that he had entered Rwanda driving one of the new imported vehicles belonging to a local car trading company, and was tracked down all the way to Kigali,” Twahirwa said.

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