US renews call to arrest 10 Genocide fugitives

The United States has re-affirmed its commitment to offer financial rewards to people who will avail information leading to the arrest, transfer and conviction of the 10 Rwandan fugitives wanted for their role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.The development was announced by the US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal, Justice Stephen J. Rapp during a press briefing after meeting with Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga. The wanted fugitives are part of the War Crimes Rewards Programme that is under the United States State Department. The fugitives have indictments from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and they include Felicien Kabuga, a former businessman who has been dubbed the Genocide Financier, Protais Mpiranyi, the former head of the notorious Presidential Guard Unit and Augustin Bizimana, the Minister of Defence in the cabinet that coordinated the Genocide in which over a million people died. Other fugitives include Fulgence Kayishema, Pheneas Munyarugarama, Aloys Ndimbati, Ladislas Ntaganzwa, Charles Ryandikayo and Charles Sikubwabo. All these have been referred to Rwanda for trial by the tribunal. Sylvestre Mudacumura, the leader of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), completes the list. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court.Up to US$5million bounty has been placed on the head of each fugitive.“The ICTR has a fugitive tracking team which has been diminished to three individuals who are focusing on the three high level fugitives, Kabuga, Mpiranyi, and Bizimana. The question is who is going to track these other wanted fugitives. This is why we are stepping up with our rewarding programme and any other assistance we can provide and to let it be known that the rewards are payable for these people,” said Rapp. In his assurance, Rapp said that during his tenure as the Ambassador at Large, 14 rewards have been issued to several people across the world that have provided information leading to the arrest of wanted fugitives. Although the US stakes US$5million as a reward to information leading to the arrest of fugitives, so far the biggest reward ever issued is US$2 million while several others ranged around US$400,000. “The reward depends on the risk, the information and the level of the person accused. We ensure we deliver the reward in a way that we don’t compromise the identity of the person who gave the information,” said Rapp. Various avenuesIn his remarks, Ngoga said that his office will maintain close cooperation with the programme saying he was looking forward to the increased collaboration.“We explored various avenues like the financial rewards offered to people who come up with very important information that would lead to the arrest of fugitives and other areas that may help in reinforcing the effectiveness of the programme,” said Ngoga, briefing the media on what transpired between their meeting. “There is a renewed commitment from Ambassador Rapp’s office which gives us a lot of hope that these people will be arrested and brought to justice.” In January this year, US President Barrack Obama signed into law the Department of State Rewards Programme Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012, expanding the authority for the Programme.Initially, the programme could not include people wanted by the ICC but after the expansion, people like Mudacumura were included on the list.

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US renews call to arrest 10 Genocide fugitives