15.06.11 - ICTR/MUNYAGISHARI - MUNYAGISHARI TRANSFERRED TO UN DETENTION IN ARUSHA

Arusha, June 15, 2011(FH) - Genocide-suspect Bernard Munyagishari, was Tuesday transferred to the United Nations Detention Facility in Arusha, Tanzania from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where he had been arrested following an international arrest warrant issued by the Tribunal in 2005.

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"He is scheduled to make his initial appearance in accordance with Rule 62 of the Tribunal Rules during which he will answer to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, including rape, preferred against him," according to a statement issued by the Tribunal.

Munyagishari, who is presented by the prosecution as leader of Interahamwe militiamen in Gisenyi prefecture, North Rwanda, was arrested on May 25, 2011 in an operation mounted by the DRC Armed forces, in collaboration with the office of the prosecution Tracking Unit in Kachanga, North Kivu.

Born in 1959 in Rubavu commune in the prefecture, the accused is alleged to have recruited, trained and lead Interahamwe militiamen in mass killings and rapes of Tutsi women in Gisenyi and beyond, between April and July 1994.

Munyagishari's arrest has reduced the number of fugitives still at large to nine.

FK /ER/GF

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