Belgium arrests another Rwandan Genocide suspect

Belgian authorities have arrested a third Rwandan suspected of taking part in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Jean Marie Vianney Ndahimana, alias Rumende, was a Colonel in the former government army (Ex_FAR, whose troops along with Interahamwe militia, masterminded the 1994 genocide. During the genocide, Ndahimana was commandant of Camp Kigali military and he is accused of having participated in killings both in Kigali and in the former Kibuye Prefecture, his home area. “The arrest comes after prolonged investigations by Belgian prosecutors in Rwanda, and this brings to three, the number of suspects arrested in Belgium in just a week,” said Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga. Ndahimana is accused of having coordinated attacks on Tutsi in the former Bwakira Commune where he ordered armed militiamen to butcher over 5,000 unarmed Tutsi civilians. Last week, Belgian authorities arrested two other Rwandan suspects. Ernest Gakwaya, alias Camarade, and Emmanuel Nkunzuwimye, also known as Bomboko, were picked up from their respective residences. The Rwandan government welcomed the arrests but called for speedy trials of genocide suspects arrested in foreign jurisdictions. This comes in the wake of another genocide suspect in the Netherlands, Joseph Mpambara, this week, returning to court to appeal his conviction on Genocide charges. He was arrested in Amsterdam in 2006 and his trial commenced in 2008. He was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ngoga said that trials are far from over and “time is not in our favor.” “We look forward to the ending of the case so that we can embark on others. We commend our counterparts in the Netherlands for embarking on these prosecutions but remind that many more are in the waiting,” Ngoga said. Mpambara allegedly ordered two Tutsi mothers and their children to be hauled out of an ambulance they were using to flee the mass killings. Ends

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Belgium arrests another Rwandan Genocide suspect