Top FDLR rebel arrested in Uganda

A senior commander of the FDLR militia has been arrested in Kampala, Uganda. Based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, FDLR is a militia group that is composed of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Uganda’s Police spokesperson Fred Enanga confirmed to The New Times yesterday that the FDLR leader, known as Major Barrack Anan, was arrested at Old Kampala police station as he tried to seek registration as an asylum seeker. “We have him with us at the Central Police Station in Kampala and we found out that he is engaged in some subversive recruitment of suspected refugees in Nyakivale Refugee Camp where there is a big number of Congolese,” Enanga said. Enanga said that the suspected criminal’s file is being investigated before he is presented in court to answer charges of entering and staying in the country illegally. “He has been an active FDLR member since 2000. We are also interrogating him to get more information on his recruitment of refugees to join the rebel group. We shall give more information in due course,” Enanga added. Anan is suspected to have been active in recruiting refugees and sending them to the FDLR training centre at Nganga in North Kivu province. On whether or not he would be extradited to Rwanda, Enanga indicated that the suspect was travelling on Congolese documents, explaining that they are working with the DRC Interpol to determine the next course of action. When contacted yesterday evening, Richard Muhumuza, the Rwanda Prosecutor General, said they had not received any communication about Arian’s arrest, saying they would comment after getting an official communication. This is not the first time Ugandan authorities have arrested suspected criminals linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. In 2010, Uganda arrested one of the most wanted Genocide fugitives then, Augustin Nkundabazungu in the Ugandan western district of Mbarara, and was immediately extradited him to Rwanda. Charged with committing genocide and crimes against humanity, Nkundabazungu was one of the two leading masterminds of the infamous Murambi massacres during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Just last year, Genocide suspect Jean Paul Birindabagabo, alias Pastor Daniel Bagabo, was also arrested in Uganda, on Genocide-related charges. The suspect was illegally staying in Uganda disguising as a pastor and had been running a church in Buwama, Mpigi District. In 2009, Idelphonse Nizeyimana, one of the most wanted Genocide suspects then, was arrested in Uganda and extradited to ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania. Nizeyimana, commonly referred to as the “Queen Killer” for killing Queen Rosalie Gicanda, the wife of the late King Mutara III, was arrested in a hotel in Kampala. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Top FDLR rebel arrested in Uganda