Germany charges Rwabukombe for Genocide

FEDERAL officials in Germany have charged Onesphore Rwabukombe over his alleged involvement in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. The 53-year old Rwabukombe, a former Bourgmestre (Mayor) of Muvumba Commune, now in the eastern province, is accused of Genocide and murder, as well as inciting killings. Speaking to The New Times yesterday, Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga, confirmed that the former mayor was charged in a German court. “He was arrested at the end of last month and he was formerly charged yesterday (Wednesday) because it is the procedural step for the provisional detention when someone is still being investigated,” he said Ngoga added that, the German prosecution presented him before a judge to justify the reasons why he should be in detention before the trial starts. “As the government of Rwanda we do not have any problem with Germany charging Rwabukombe,” he stressed. According to German Prosecutors, Rwabukombe, ordered and coordinated three massacres in April 1994, killing at least 3,730 members of the Tutsi minority. Some of the victims had allegedly sought shelter from marauding soldiers, police and civilians in church buildings. He is also is accused of ordering a local official to throw out Tutsi refugees who had taken refuge in his house, threatening to have the official’s family killed. The former mayor was first arrested in Germany in March 2008, but a Rwandan extradition request was subsequently denied and Rwabukombe was released later that year. This is the third time he had been arrested in Germany following “intensive investigation. Ends

National

Germany charges Rwabukombe for Genocide