Although six other genocide fugitives are still on the run, the focus is currently being placed on working with different countries to bring Protais Mpiranyi to book, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), Serge Brammertz, has said.

Mpiranyi is one of the three so-called Big Fish who remained under the jurisdiction of the Mechanism should they be arrested. The others were Augustin Bizimana, who was recently confirmed dead and Félicien Kabuga who was arrested in Paris on May 16 this year.

The five others who include; Fulgence Kayishema, Charles Sikubwabo, Aloys Ndimbati, Charles Ryandikayo and Phénéas Munyarugarama, were referred to Rwanda as the tribunal wound up its activities.

Addressing the media on Tuesday August 25, Brammertz said that the pursuit for Mpiranyi has been heightened and challenged the international community to work with his court to deliver justice to both the victims and survivors.

"The work regarding the remaining fugitives continues. We are actively looking for Mpiranyi and he is our priority. We are following a number of leads in a number of countries and I am still calling on the international community, governments and countries to have those arrests take place,” he said.

Brammertz said that his office was working closely with South Africa, Zimbabwe and DRC and a number of other countries and said that their political will would go a long way in contributing to the success of the arrests.

"The fact that Kabuga was arrested shows that if the international community is working together and serious about ending impunity, if there is political will to have these other fugitives who are believed to be on the African continent arrested, we can be successful,” he said.

Numbered days

The Prosecutor General Aimable Havugiyaremye warned that the arrest of mastermind Kabuga should be a wakeup call for all those who committed the genocide and a reminder that their days are numbered.

"Those who are fugitives should know that we are working with many countries and international justice organisations to track them down and no stone will be left unturned to bring them to justice,” he said.

Who is Mpiranya?

Despite being a middle-ranking officer, a Major in the ex-Rwandan armed forces, Mpiranya is believed to have been a very influential figure during the Genocide against the Tutsi.

He commanded the Presidential Guard, an elite unit that took immediate charge after the death of former President Juvenal Habyarimana on the night of April 6, 1994, and is blamed for the slaughter of top politicians as the Genocide unfolded.

Among the politicians killed at the onset of the Genocide were then Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, and her security detail of 10 Belgian peacekeepers.

They were slaughtered a few hours after the downing of Habyarimana’s plane blamed on extremist elements within his party and military.

The attack on the former Premier’s home was, according to reports, led by Mpiranya himself.

Mpiranya is one of the subjects of the US Reward for Justice Programme, with a US$5 million bounty on his head.

In September 2012, after years of denial, the Zimbabwean government admitted that Mpiranya could be hiding there and using various assumed names that include Theophase Mahuku and James Kakule to evade arrest.

It was then reported that the fugitive coordinated his business empire then said to also stretch to other countries in that region, from Harare.

At the time, previous reports indicated that Mpiranya was being protected by senior officials within Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-FP. But Harare persistently distanced itself from such claims.

He was also said to be closely working with the FDLR for whom he was advisor

Mpiranya is accused of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.