The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) is confident that the South African authorities “will do everything necessary” to make sure that the recently-captured genocide fugitive Fulgence Kayishema is brought to Rwanda to stand trial.
The IRMCT Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz made the revelation on July 28, 2023, as he concluded his five-day visit to Rwanda in which he particularly held tête-à-tête exchanges with survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi about the actions of Kayishema, a former Police Inspector who masterminded the killing of 2,000 Tutsi who had sought refuge at Nyange Catholic Parish during the Genocide.
Brammertz also emphasized that the visit to Kayishema’s crime scene provided more valuable insights compared to any secondary information, including witness statements and accounts from historians, politicians, and journalists, regarding the atrocities committed during the Genocide against the Tutsi.
The above revelations dealt a significant blow to overseas-based genocidaires, Interahamwe, and their apologists, who had been whining that Kayishema should not be extradited to Rwanda, making baseless claims that “he is unlikely to get a fair trial.”
On the other hand, genocide survivors breathed a sigh of relief as their long-standing quest has always been for the extradition of Kayishema, so that he can be tried in Nyange where he committed the crimes.
Kayishema would not be the first genocide fugitive to be extradited to Rwanda. Over the last two decades, Rwanda has received dozens of fugitives from all over the world, with Jean Paul Micomyiza being the most recent case, extradited from Sweden last year.
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