UN tribunal: Elderly Rwandan genocide suspect cannot be transferred to Rwanda
The United Nations war crimes tribunal ruled on Friday that a geriatric Rwandan genocide suspect, previously deemed unfit to stand trial, is also not medically fit to be transferred to Rwanda — leaving him confined indefinitely to a UN detention unit as no state has agreed to accept him.
Judges said nonagenarian Félicien Kabuga, who is wheelchair-bound and largely dependent on the detention centre’s medical facilities, cannot safely travel. They urged European states to offer him residence, noting that continued detention is not a sustainable long-term solution, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Kabuga was ruled unfit for trial in 2023 due to advanced dementia. His exact age remains disputed, but he is believed to be in his early 90s. He was arrested in France in 2020 after evading capture for more than two decades.
Once one of the most wanted fugitives of the tribunal investigating the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Kabuga was a wealthy businessman and co-founder of Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). Prosecutors accuse him of using the broadcaster to spread hate speech and of financing and arming Hutu militias during the 100-day killing campaign that left more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.
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