A Rwandan traditional court trying genocide suspects has arrested an army general and detained him pending trial for participating in the country’s 1994 massacre, but he will be transferred to a military court, officials said on Tuesday.
Laurent Munyakazi, one of the first high-ranking army officer to be arrested by one of the traditional courts known as gacaca (pronounced gachacha), was detained after his arrest on Monday in the capital’s Rugenge district. He will appear before a military court on a date yet to be announced.
“He was arrested by a gacaca in Rugenge. The evidence against him was overwhelming,” said a senior military officer on conditions of anonymity.
“He was put in detention by the gacaca … which will transfer his case to the court-martial, that is the requirement of the law,” said Domitille Mukantaganzwa, an official with the gacaca.
“He was arrested because he committed crimes that puts him in the first category,” she said, referring to the category that qualifies suspects as genocide planners.
Mukantaganzwa added that Munyakazi was also sought because he “intimidated witnesses” and “tried to tamper with evidence”.
Munyakazi, a Hutu, was a lieutenant general in the army during the 1994 genocide in which about 800Â 000 people, mainly the minority Tutsi and moderate Hutus were massacred.
Genocide survivors have in the last few months accused Munyakazi on several occasions of being behind killings in Rugenge district, especially in Sainte-Famille church and in Saint Paul chapel.
Rwanda’s 12Â 000 gacaca courts are empowered to try those who carried out the killings and hand down sentences ranging from community service to life in prison. – AFP