Rwandan authorities have demanded the extradition of a Catholic priest exiled in France who is suspected of participating in the country’s 1994 genocide, officials said on Thursday.
Kigali has asked Paris to hand over Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, the former vicar of the capital’s Holy Family parish, to face trial for his alleged role in the 100-day killing spree between April and June 1994, said Christophe Bizimungu, the prosecutor for Rwanda’s military tribunal.
”We issued an international arrest warrant for him in December so that he be extradited and tried here alongside general [Laurent] Munyakazi by the military tribunal,” Bizimungu said.
Paris confirmed that it had received a warrant from Rwanda for the clergyman’s arrest.
”It is now up to the judicial authorities to respond as they see fit,” said a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry, Denis Simmoneau.
Munyakazi, a former senior member of Rwanda’s army, was arrested last September for his alleged role in the genocide, in which about 800 000 people, mainly minority Tutsis, were killed by Hutu extremists.
Although the Central African nation does not have an extradition treaty with France, Bizimungu said the priest should be tried for ”obvious collaboration with Munyakazi”.
Under Rwandan law, civilians who collaborate with the military in the commission of a crime can be court martialled.
Munyeshyaka is suspected of handing over Tutsis who had taken refuge at the Kigali Holy Family Church to Hutu militia and witnesses have accused him of helping to identify Tutsis from among refugees to be killed or raped.
The Roman Catholic Church had come under scrutiny over its possible role in the genocide, after thousands of Tutsis who had sought refuge in houses of worship were killed in unclear circumstances. – AFP
