A participant accused of the Rwandan genocide of 1 official could face up to 10 years in prison when U.S. officials deported him to Kigali, where he was taken into custody after arriving on Thursday.
5-year-old Oswald Rurangwa was deported to Rwanda by US security officials on a private jet. U.S. embassy officials picked him up at Kigali International Airport and immediately handed him over to Rwandan security personnel. Rurangwa was handcuffed and taken to a waiting Rwanda Bureau of Investigation van.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, Rwanda Prosecution Authority spokesman Faustin Enkusi said Rurangwa was the head of the Interhamway militia in the Gisoji sector, a suburb of Kiragi, at the time of the massacre.
“He took part in many acts of genocide, including planning meetings, joining mobs of attackers and killing. He was involved in genocide, genocide, inciting people to genocide, killing and committing crimes against humanity,” Enkusi said.
“We issued an arrest warrant against him in 2008, but it matched Gakakar [court] The regime that has already been handed over to him. So, the U.S. Department of Justice has deported him here to serve his sentence, ”he added.
In 2007, a Gakaka, or Rwanda community court, convicted Rurangwa in absentia, convicted him of genocide and sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Charles Kambanda, who is familiar with the case and familiar with Central African law, said the United States had a different argument for deporting Rurangwa.
“Oswald Rurangwa was deported to Rwanda entirely because of immigration fraud,” the New York State-based attorney told the VOA Central Africa Service. “It means he was deported, not extradited. ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Handed him over. “
According to the prosecution, Rurangwa fled Rwanda in 1994 to the Kibumba refugee camp, then in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. He later moved to another camp called Kayindu in 1996 before applying for asylum in the United States.
Nkusi said Rwandan law allows Rurangwa to retry his case.
“You have seen that he has been appointed an attorney,” Nkusi said, adding that Rurangwa would be informed of the earlier verdict and given a copy of his sentence. “She is OK [of appeal] Because even if he is convicted in absentia, he has the right to sue again. ”
Rurangwa was being taken to Mareger prison, Enkusi said.
The story originated on VOA’s Central Africa Service. Geoffrey Mutagoma contributed from Washington.
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