Rwandan genocide suspect Beatrice Munyenyezi deported from US
A general view of exhibits at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 7, 2021.
What you need to know:
- On various occasions, Beatrice Munyenyezi was seen on roadblocks participating in checking identification cards in order to identify the Tutsi ethnicity to be killed.
Kigali,
A Rwandan woman charged with crimes against humanity during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi arrived in Rwanda on Friday following her deportation from the United States.
Beatrice Munyenyezi, a genocide suspect who was arrested in 2013 in the United States and sentenced to 10 years there for lying about her role in the Rwandan genocide to obtain US citizenship, arrived at Kigali International Airport at 7.04 pm local time (1704 GMT).
Munyenyezi, who played a major role in the genocide in the former Butare Prefecture, now Huye district, in southern Rwanda, is accused of seven counts of murder as a genocide crime, conspiracy to commit genocide, planning of the genocide, incitement to commit genocide, complicity in genocide, extermination and complicity in rape, Thierry Murangira, acting spokesperson of Rwanda Investigation Bureau, told national broadcaster Rwanda Television during a news program.
On various occasions, Munyenyezi was seen on roadblocks participating in checking identification cards in order to identify the Tutsi ethnicity to be killed, Murangira said, adding that the suspect also handed over Tutsis to the Interahamwe militia for rape and participated in the shooting of a Catholic nun after handing her over to the militia for rape.
"Munyenyezi's deportation means a lot in terms of justice delivery to the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi because our case file was already in place," the official said.
Her US citizenship was stripped after being found guilty of the charge in the United States.
Munyenyezi's husband and mother-in-law had been sentenced to life in prison for genocide and other crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
There are more than 1,100 genocide fugitives still at large in both Western and African countries, head of Rwanda's Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit Jean-Bosco Siboyintore said in April.
The majority of the fugitives, standing at 408, are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 277 in Uganda, and others in Malawi, Tanzania, France, the Republic of the Congo, Belgium, and Burundi, said Siboyintore.
Rwanda has so far signed extradition treaties with 10 countries out of the 30 countries where suspects are believed to be hiding, according to him.
