The Netherlands announces the arrest of a former Rwandan army officer under suspicion of genocide in 1994.

17-05-2022

Grace ATALUI MOKANGO

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defence

On Wednesday, 13 May, a 65-year-old former Rwandan army officer living in the Netherlands since 1998 was arrested by the Dutch police's international crime team. The team captured the suspect under the authority of the Dutch National Prosecutor's Office on charges of involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The Netherlands public prosecution service reported that Rwanda had requested the suspect's extradition because, in 1994, the man was a gendarmerie officer in Rwanda. According to the Rwandan authorities, he played a leading role in the massacres committed in the Rwandan capital Kigali and the commune of Mugina.

It should be noted that the suspect had been granted asylum status by the Netherlands in 1998 and then Dutch citizenship in 2002. However, due to his alleged involvement in the genocide, the Dutch Department of Immigration and Naturalisation decided in 2013 to revoke his Dutch citizenship. This decision was contested in court on 11 May 2022, with the Council of State rejecting the merits of the appeal and confirming the revocation of his citizenship. This last decision thus removed any obstacle to his arrest and final extradition to Rwanda. 

Source and further reading

The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, Rwandan former army officer suspected of genocide arrested in the Netherlands, News Item, ( 13 May 2022), from: https://www.prosecutionservice.nl/topics/international-crimes/news/2022/05/13/rwandan-former-officer-suspected-of-genocide-arrested-in-the-netherlands