TWO Interahamwe militias have been convicted for murder in western Uganda.Interahamwe are the Hutu extremists who are largely blamed for the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, which claimed a million people.

The Masindi district Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Jack Odur Lutanywa, said the Chief Magistrate’s court in Masindi convicted the two, and that they were serving their sentence.

Speaking from Kampala, the RDC, declined to name the convicts but said security had been trailing a number of suspected Interahamwe who were involved in a number of violent crime.

Lutanywa said suspected Interahamwe militias are usually hired for murder by local businessmen and politicians.

He said security in his district had been stepped up to counter the militias’ activities.

Most of the Interahamwe are camped in eastern DR Congo, where they joined hands with members of the former Rwandan army, ex-Far, to form FDLR rebel group.

The Interahamwe have also infiltrated Kiryandongo refugee camp in western Uganda, from where they have committed murder and theft crimes against the local population, mostly Banyarwanda communities.

Lutanywa said a police post had been established in the vicinity of the camp, and a number of local vigilantes have been recruited to watch out for suspicious elements.

Refugee camps are usually under the direct authority of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

The New Times has in the past reported the presence of Interahamwe in different refugee camps in western Uganda.

Meanwhile, Lutanywa revealed that Banyarwanda pastoralists, who were expelled from Apac by the district authorities, have joined their indigenous colleagues in Masindi.

He said 45 families started arriving from the northern part of the country across River Nile since early August, and that the latest group arrived on August 28.

Masindi borders Buliisa district where Banyarwanda pastoralists recently clashed with the local population over land.

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