22.05.08 - RWANDA/GENOCIDE - GENOCIDE ACCUSED REBEL REPATRIATED FROM DRC TO KIGALI

Arusha, 22 May 2008 (FH) - A Rwandan rebel implicated in the 1994 genocide, Colonel Faustin Sebuhura, has been repatriated back home Wednesday by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).

The rebels of the Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), whose several members are accused of having been deeply involved in the April-July slaughter, fled to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the genocide. The UN has estimated that about 800,000 persons, mainly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during the violence, one of worst form of butchering that took place in the modern century.

It is unclear how Sebuhura came into contacted with the MONUC.

Seriously ill, he was admitted on arrival to a hospital in Gisenyi, near the border with the DRC, reported Thursday Rwandan pro-government newspaper, The New Times.

During the genocide, Sebuhura, who held the rank of a Captain, was second in command of the gendarmerie in Gikongoro, southern Rwanda, according to the newspaper. His name appears among the investigation files handed over recently to Rwanda by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Justice Hassan Jallow.

Sebuhura was often mentioned in the trial at the Arusha-based ICTR of Colonel Aloys Simba, who originates from Gikongoro.

Simba was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Simba is among 18 convicted persons still in Arusha waiting for a host country to serve their sentences. Six ICTR genocide convicted are serving their sentences in Mali and one in Italy.

ER/PB/MM/SC

© Hirondelle News Agency

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