Genocide fugitive deported

KIGALI - At approximately 8:30AM yesterday, Jean Mary Vianney Mudahinyuka, a Genocide fugitive, was handed over to the national police by US officials, following a deportation order by a Chicago court after he was convicted on immigration fraud. Prior to his deportation, Mudahinyuka had served 42 months in an American prison for assaulting an American police officer and lying on US immigration documents, while under oath. He had changed his name to Thierry Rugamba and assumed Burundian nationality. Described as “dangerous and violent” on Interpol Red Notice, Mudahinyuka was wanted by the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) and has been on an Interpol Wanted List since November 2009, for crimes against humanity and genocide. He is expected to proceed to jail to begin his 19-year sentence was handed down in absentia by the Gacaca Court of Nyakabanda, Kigali City in 2008. In a press briefing after his hand over, Martin Ngoga, the Prosecutor General, welcomed Mudahinyuka’s deportation as a “another step towards justice” and commended the US efforts and trust in the Rwandan judiciary. “Mudahinyuka is one of the top Genocide criminals identified in the 55 files sent to Rwanda by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. We have been collaborating with American authorities as they worked to exhaust the legal processes that led to his deportation,” he said. Ngoga further challenged countries which still harbor Genocide fugitives to collaborate and ensure that those indentified and are wanted for trial are brought to face justice. “There are organizations and countries on the lookout for any mistake we make so that they can criticize us, but we guarantee that all Genocide suspects extradited or deported back will be treated as Rwandans and will be given a fair trial,” Ngoga stressed. Born on January 1, 1960, Mudahinyuka is described as one of the most zealous supporters of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. According to prosecution, on April 7, 1994, at Nyamirambo Stadium, Mudahinyuka and accomplices organized political rallies where they called on participants to kill Tutsis and also distributed weapons including machetes and grenades,. It adds that on April 17, 1994, acting under his orders, Mudahinyuka’s bodyguards conducted a house-to-house search in Nyamirambo, rounded up 62 people who were escorted to the stadium and massacred under his supervision. On his Interpol fact file, Mudahinyuka is said to have attacked a family In Mumena Cell, Nyamirambo, on June 22, 1994, and personally killed all its members and on June 24, he commanded an attack on a school that led to the murder of 600 Tutsis. Ends