Uganda arrests, hands over Genocide suspect to ICTR

UGANDA - Ugandan authorities yesterday handed over Genocide suspect, Pastor Jean-Bosco Uwinkindi, to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which has indicted him for Genocide. Uwinkindi, 59, who has a five million dollar bounty on his head, was arrested on Wednesday in Isingiro District, western Uganda, as he reportedly sneaked in from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is charged with; Genocide, conspiracy to commit Genocide, and extermination as a crime against humanity. Uganda Police Spokesperson, Judith Nabakooba, told The New Times that Uwinkindi had already been transferred to Arusha, the seat of the tribunal. By press time, ICTR spokesperson, Roland Amoussouga, confirmed that the suspect had arrived in Arusha. “He is here and we have him in custody. He will soon be brought before court for his initial appearance,” Amoussouga said on phone yesterday. During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Uwinkindi was the Pastor in charge of the Pentecostal Church located in Nyamata Sector, Kanzenze Commune in the former Kigali Rural Prefecture, now the Eastern Province. He is accused of having led a group of killers to hunt down and exterminate Tutsi civilians who had sought refuge in Kayenzi church. Uwinkindi is accused of having ordered Interhamwe militias to kill Tutsi refugees using traditional weapons and save the firearms to fight the RPF soldiers. In August last year, the former Mayor of Kivumu, Grégoire Ndahimana, was arrested in the DRC while another notorious fugitive Capt. Ildephonse Nizeyimana was arrested in October in Uganda and immediately transferred to the UN detention facility in Arusha. Ends

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Uganda arrests, hands over Genocide suspect to ICTR