ICTR appeals to Kenyans to help arrest Kabuga

ARUSHA - The Spokesman of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Roland Amoussouga, has appealed to Kenyan citizens to help in efforts to establish the exact whereabouts and subsequent arrest of the most wanted Rwanda Genocide fugitive, Félicien Kabuga. Addressing a congregation of senior journalists and editors from Africa who visited the tribunal’s headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, last week, Amoussouga said that the US government has put a US$5m (approx. Frw2.7b) bounty on his head. He said: “I appeal to any person whether Kenyan or any other person who knows the whereabouts of Kabuga to locate him.” Currently, Kabuga who is on top of the most wanted Genocide fugitives is believed to be hiding in Kenya, enjoying the protection of a small clique in the establishment in exchange for money. He is charged with financing the 1994 Genocide in which an estimated one million people died. Amoussouga, also a senior legal advisor top the tribunal, added that the ICTR’s tracking team is yet to get to him and that the court is optimistic he will be arrested before it ends its mandate. The UN court is expected to close shop by the end of this year though there is a lot of unfinished business including many pending cases and the fact that most wanted fugitives at large. The tribunal also renewed its appeal to all UN member states to help track down and arrest Kabuga and other fugitives still at large. Kenya has been put under international pressure to hand over the fugitive. Kabuga was indicted in 1997 by the ICTR for genocide and other crimes against humanity. To date, he remains on the run. Both Rwanda and the tribunal have continuously appealed to the Kenyan Government to facilitate the easy arrest of Kabuga for the last many years but in vein. Kenya says it has no information that the fugitive in currently on her territory. The ICTR tracking team is said to have gone close to him but leaks from the Kenyan police compromised his arrest. Kabuga is charged with supplying machetes and other weapons that were used during the Genocide. Some of his Genocide investments included Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (Thousand Hills Independent Radio and Television) that incited masses to kill.Born in 1935, the fugitive has used the names including Idriss Sudi, Faracean Kabuga, Abachev Straton, Anathase Munyaruga, and Oliver Rukundakuvuga.Ends

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ICTR appeals to Kenyans to help arrest Kabuga