Rwanda genocide fugitive Fulgence Kayishema, accused of killing 2,000 in church massacre, arrested

Johannesburg — One of the world’s most wanted fugitives was arrested Wednesday in South Africa after 29 years on the run, according to United Nations investigators. Fulgence Kayishema is alleged to have orchestrated the brutal killing of 2,000 women, men and children at a church in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide in the central African nation.

He was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 2001 and had been on the run, using various aliases and disguises, ever since. The Nyange church attack is seen as one of the most brutal acts during the 100 days of the Rwandan genocide.

Kayishema was arrested in a joint operation by U.N. and South African authorities in the town of Paarl, in South Africa’s Western Cape, according to a statement by the U.N.’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

The investigators said that while Kayishema initially denied his identity, within hours he admitted that he’d been expecting his own arrest for a long time.

A reward of up to $5 million from the U.S. War Crimes Program was on offer for information leading to Kayishema and other suspects wanted for perpetrating the Rwandan genocide.

“Fulgence Kayishema was a fugitive for more than twenty years. His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes,” IRMCT Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in a statement.

His arrest is another success for the ICTR, whose Office of the Prosecutor’s Fugitive Tracking Team has captured five of the most wanted suspects linked to the genocide since 2020. There are now only three outstanding figures on the loose.

“This arrest is a tangible demonstration that this commitment does not fade and that justice will be done, no matter how long it takes,” Brammertz added in his statement.

Kayishema was indicted by the Rwanda tribunal on charges of genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity for killings and other crimes committed during the Rwanda genocide.

The indictment alleges that on April 15, 1994, Kayishema and others directly planned and executed the murder of 2,000 people. He allegedly sourced gasoline to burn down the Nyange Church in Kivumu commune with the people inside.

When his arson attempts failed, Kayishema allegedly used a bulldozer to knock the building down, burying and killing the people inside. He was then charged with supervising the transfer of the bodies from the church grounds to mass graves over the following days.