logo
Rwandan man accused in 1994 genocide repatriated from Norway

Rwandan man accused in 1994 genocide repatriated from Norway

Daily Maverick2 days ago
François Gasana, who was a student during the genocide in which more than 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred by Hutu extremists, was arrested in Norway in 2022.
Norwegian police announced in March that he would be sent back to Rwanda after a court said conditions for his extradition had been met.
Faustin Nkusi, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, confirmed his arrival in Kigali, adding that Gasana was accused of killing a child during the genocide and inciting others to participate in the killings.
'The crimes we are charging him (with) are crimes of genocide,' Nkusi told journalists at Kigali's airport after Gasana's arrival.
It was not immediately known whether Gasana had secured legal representation, and he was not allowed to speak to journalists.
Photos published in Rwandan media showed police officers escorting Gasana from the plane that flew him from Norway.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was set up in Tanzania in late 1994 to try the masterminds of the genocide, closed in 2015 after convicting 61 suspects.
Other prominent suspects have since been captured around the world following decades on the run, and Rwanda's own internal justice system has handled nearly 2 million cases.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Mozambique insurgency grows at 'sensitive' time for TotalEnergies' return
Mozambique insurgency grows at 'sensitive' time for TotalEnergies' return

eNCA

timea day ago

  • eNCA

Mozambique insurgency grows at 'sensitive' time for TotalEnergies' return

MOZAMBIQUE - Jihadist insurgents in northern Mozambique have multiplied their attacks in the past weeks, causing mass displacements ahead of the possible resumption of construction on TotalEnergies' huge natural gas project in the region. A group affiliated with the Islamic State group, which has led a bloody insurgency in Cabo Delgado province since 2017, claimed responsibility for seven attacks in the south of the province in late July, including one in which they executed six villagers. Nearly 59,000 people were displaced to the small district of Chiure alone, Sebastian Traficante, who heads the local mission of Doctors Without Borders, told AFP. The region had not seen so many people forced to leave since February 2024, according to United Nations statistics. "There hasn't been a mass displacement like this for many months now, so it was a bit of a surprise," Traficante told AFP from a transit camp set up in the small town in the south of Cabo Delgado, where shelter was initially insufficient to host the "massive" influx of people, most fleeing on foot. "There were some people even sleeping under the open sky," toilet facilities were insufficient and "there was no food available", he said. Some families were separated in the chaos and lost their children, while others had to "hide in the bush until they felt it was safe to go to the next town", Traficante said. - Less protected area - The recent attacks were carried out about 100 kilometres (60 miles) further south from the area where the insurgents were previously active. "The terrorists fled their bases in Macomia, splitting into different groups and positioning themselves in various areas," a security source in Cabo Delgado told AFP. "They took advantage of the security forces' weak presence in Chiure to carry out raids and loot several villages," the source said. Mozambican troops and the Rwandan army, which has been deployed in the area since July 2021, are concentrated in the northern districts where the insurgency has been more frequent -- but also closer to TotalEnergies' liquefied natural gas project near the port town of Palma. As a result, the insurgents could remain in Chiure "from at least the 24th of July until the 3rd of August, when army reinforcements arrived," said Peter Bofin, who observes the Cabo Delgado insurgency for the conflict tracking organisation ACLED. "They had no engagements with state forces, police or army" during that time, he said. The Rwandan army, which is better equipped and has a base about 50 kilometres north of the area, near Ancuabe, did not intervene. - 'Tactical' - The attacks in the south of the province do not mean the jihadists have abandoned their positions in the north, Bofin said. "They are still there," he said. "It is quite tactical, we assume an attempt to stretch the Mozambican and possibly the Rwandan military -- If you stretch them, you make it more difficult for them to protect the north," he said. Attacks in Chiure also cause more panic and larger population displacements than in the north, where many residents fled long ago and have not yet returned. "The displacement is deliberate, they're looking to cause that," Bofin said. "The Islamic State stated a couple of years ago, in their weekly newspaper, that the killing of a Christian in a village will spark people to flee from surrounding villages and put pressure on the towns. They said it in black and white," he said. - $20 billion project - The renewed attacks come as TotalEnergies has announced that construction on its $20 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project near Palma could restart during the European summer. The project had been stalled since a deadly attack in March 2021 that resulted in over 800 victims, including several of the French energy giant's subcontractors, according to ACLED. It estimates that more than 6,100 people have been killed since the beginning of the insurrection. Mozambique's vast offshore natural gas reserves, discovered in 2010, could place the southern African country, where more than 70 percent of the population lives in poverty, among the top ten global producers, according to a 2024 report by the consulting group Deloitte. "The push down south was accompanied by a pretty intense propaganda campaign by Islamic State," Bofin said, adding that the militants had devoted an entire page to Mozambique in their weekly newspaper in the last weeks. "It's hard not to relate this to the situation regarding the LNG plant," he said. "It's certainly happening at a very, very interesting time, and they know how sensitive this time is as well." By Clément Varanges

Rwandan man accused in 1994 genocide repatriated from Norway
Rwandan man accused in 1994 genocide repatriated from Norway

Daily Maverick

time2 days ago

  • Daily Maverick

Rwandan man accused in 1994 genocide repatriated from Norway

François Gasana, who was a student during the genocide in which more than 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred by Hutu extremists, was arrested in Norway in 2022. Norwegian police announced in March that he would be sent back to Rwanda after a court said conditions for his extradition had been met. Faustin Nkusi, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, confirmed his arrival in Kigali, adding that Gasana was accused of killing a child during the genocide and inciting others to participate in the killings. 'The crimes we are charging him (with) are crimes of genocide,' Nkusi told journalists at Kigali's airport after Gasana's arrival. It was not immediately known whether Gasana had secured legal representation, and he was not allowed to speak to journalists. Photos published in Rwandan media showed police officers escorting Gasana from the plane that flew him from Norway. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was set up in Tanzania in late 1994 to try the masterminds of the genocide, closed in 2015 after convicting 61 suspects. Other prominent suspects have since been captured around the world following decades on the run, and Rwanda's own internal justice system has handled nearly 2 million cases.

M23 rebels say no invitation received to Doha peace talks with DRC
M23 rebels say no invitation received to Doha peace talks with DRC

TimesLIVE

time2 days ago

  • TimesLIVE

M23 rebels say no invitation received to Doha peace talks with DRC

The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group has not received an invitation to peace talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) scheduled to begin in Doha, Qatar, on Friday, its leader Bertrand Bisimwa told reporters on Thursday. A delay to the start of the talks risks scuppering an ambitious pledge by the two sides to end the fighting in eastern DRC that has killed thousands of people this year and displaced hundreds of thousands more. M23 rebels seized eastern DRC's largest city Goma in late January as part of a rapid advance that has given them control of more territory than ever before. US President Donald Trump's administration has mediated talks between DRC and Rwanda that Washington hopes will produce a sustainable peace and attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. Rwanda, which has long denied helping M23, says its forces act in self-defence against DRC's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Under a separate but parallel mediation effort hosted by Qatar, DRC and M23 signed a declaration of principles on July 19 in which they vowed to start negotiating a peace agreement no later than August 8 with the goal of reaching a deal by August 18. Bisimwa told Reuters on Thursday, however, that M23 had not received an invitation to Doha and that for now there was no M23 delegation there. Another rebel leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the group would not go to Doha "until Kinshasa begins to respect the declaration of principles, which provides for the release of our detained members". An official with knowledge of the matter said there had been a delay in releasing prisoners, but that both sides were still working to implement the terms outlined in the declaration of principles. "This includes ongoing negotiations to establish a mechanism — with involvement from the International Red Cross — for the exchange of prisoners, which has taken longer than initially anticipated," the official said. "However, progress is being made — and once there is an agreement on this point, implementation of the deal is expected to pick up pace." A Congolese government official directly involved in the talks told Reuters that prisoners could only be released after an agreement — rather than the declaration of principles — is signed. That person said they could not confirm whether DRC would attend the talks. Tina Salama, spokesperson for Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, said DRC was still participating in the Doha peace process and would attend any meetings scheduled.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store