Another suspected genocide kingpin in custody

An alleged participant in the 1994 Rwandan genocide faces a possible 30 years in prison after US officials deported him to Kigali, where he was taken into custody after his arrival Thursday. Oswald Rurangwa was deported on a private jet. US embassy officials received him at Kigali International Airport and immediately handed him over to Rwandan security staff. Voice of America reports that Rurangwa was handcuffed and handed to Rwanda Investigation Bureau officials. Rwanda Prosecution Authority spokesperson Faustin Nkusi said Rurangwa was the head of Interahamwe militia in the Gisozi sector, a suburb of Kigali, during the genocide. ‘He participated in many acts of the genocide, including planning meetings, joining mobs of attackers, and killing. He committed genocide crimes, complicity to genocide, inciting people to commit genocide, murder and extermination as a crime against humanity,’ Nkusi said. In 2007, a Gacaca, or Rwandan community court, tried Rurangwa in absentia, finding him guilty of genocide and sentencing him to 30 years behind bars. US attorney Charles Kambanda said Rurangwa was sent to Rwanda ‘purely on account of immigration fraud’.

The European Parliament has condemned the conviction of Paul Rusesabagina and called for the EU to work towards securing his release, BBC News reports. The hero of the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda was sentenced last month to 25 years in jail for terrorism charges related to deadly rebel attacks in 2018 and 2019 in Rwanda. Rusesabagina denied any link to the attacks but admitted funding the rebels before he pulled out of his trial in March. The EU Parliament’s non-binding resolution on Thursday called for Rusesabagina's ‘immediate release on humanitarian grounds’ and urged the EU delegation to Rwanda to ‘convey this request’ to the Rwandan authorities. ‘It is our responsibility to protect his fundamental rights. Rights that have been violated by Rwandan authorities,’ Belgian MEP Kathleen Van Brempt told the Parliament. Rwanda’s former chief prosecutor Martin Ngoga responded on Twitter: ‘It is out of order that victims have no place in your statement and considerations.’ In an interview with France 24 in May, Rwandan President Paul Kagame condemned foreign accusations that Rusesabagina's trial had not been fair.