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| |  | | Felicien Kabuga | | | context : | Rwanda  | | judgement place : | ICTR (Rwanda) | | status : | Sought - Arrest warrant | | particulars : | On the run | | position : | Businessman, President of the Radio Station Mille Collines (RTLM)'s Ruling Committee («Comité d'initiative de la Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Colline - RTLM») and President of the National Defence Fund |
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| | | | Kabuga fled Rwanda in 1994. As of today’s date, he has resisted all attempts at arrest.
On 22 July 1994, Kabuga sought asylum in Switzerland on a valid visa. He was deported on 18 August 1994 and was able to fly to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo before Rwandan Associations in Switzerland could lodge a complaint against him. The Swiss Confederation assumed the cost of departure for Kabuga, his wife and seven children for a total amount of 21'302 Swiss Francs. In addition, before taking off, it appears that he was ably to go freely to the UBS bank subsidiary at Genève-Cointrin airport to withdraw money.
With the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 1995, Kabuga quickly became one of the principal targets of the investigators of the Tribunal. On 18 July 1997, he escaped the «Naki» operation in Kenya after being spotted in a villa in the residential district of Karen in Nairobi. A Kenyan police officer is said to have given Kabuga fair warning to allow him to escape. According to ICTR investigators, Kabuga was reported to be protected by Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi. In April 1998, according to the ICG (International Crisis Group), Kabuga was said to have been localized in a house owned by the nephew of President Moi and annexed to that of the President’s son. According to a 1999 report of the United Nations Commission of Enquiry into arms purchases by the former militia of the Rwandan government, Kabuga was reported to have been seen in South-East Asia in September 1998. Finally, in 2000, he was said to have transited through Belgium, where his wife is living.
On 11 June 2002, the United States launched a large information media-campaign in Kenya aimed at capturing Kabuga. The «Rewards for Justice» American federal program was used to track down those accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former -Yugoslavia, but this was the first time it was used against those accused by the ICTR. A reward up to US $ 5'000'000 was offered for any information leading to the capture of Kabuga.
In December 2002, the United States accused the former Permanent Secretary for Kenyan National Security, Zakayo Cheruiyot, of having given sanctuary to Kabuga and of using governmental infrastructures to prevent him from being arrested The Kenyan authorities opened up an investigation into this affair.
In January 2003, Kabuga was able to avoid an attempted arrest led by both the Kenyan police and the FBI in Nairobi. On 17 January 2003, the police informer with the task of entrapping Kabuga, William Munuhe, was found dead.
On 28 August 2003, the United Nations Security Council urged all the States, Kenya in particular, to intensify their cooperation to find Kabuga and to bring him to justice (resolution 1503).
Furthermore,, the ICTR Prosecutor arranged to have Kabuga’s financial assets confiscated and to block access to his bank accounts in France, Switzerland and Belgium.
Kabuga was indicted by the ICTR in August 1998 and an international arrest warrant was issued in August 1999.
According to the act of indictment dated 21 November 2001, Kabuga is charged on 11 counts. He is accused of «genocide», «conspiracy to commit genocide», «complicity in genocide», and «direct and public incitation to commit genocide». Also, he is accused of «assassination as a crime against humanity», «extermination as a crime against humanity», «rape as a crime against humanity», «persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds as crimes against humanity» in addition to various war crimes
Kabuga was initially indicted together with 6 other persons. On 1st September 2003, based on the fact that he had still not been arrested, the Third Trial Chamber of the ICTR – on request of the prosecutor – ordered the separation of the proceedings undertaken against Kabuga from those of the proceedings entitled «Government 1». | |     click for more... | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | also known as : | | | Faracean Kabuga, Idriss Sudi, Abachev Straton, Anathase Munyaruga, Oliver Rukundakuvuga | | | last time seen : | | | Kenya | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
Genocide
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 23.12.2009 |
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