1994 genocide: Rwanda seeks Malawi’s help in locating 55 fugitives

Malawi’s government said on Monday it had received a request for help from Rwanda in locating 55 fugitives wanted for their role in the 1994 Tutsi genocide who are believed to be hiding in the southern African country.

“The Rwandan government has requested assistance from the Malawian government to identify 55 suspects who are currently hiding in Malawi. These people are known warlords,” Malawi’s Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma told a press conference in Lilongwe.

The genocide claimed more than 800,000 lives, according to the UN, mainly Tutsis exterminated between April and July 1994.

The 55 suspects are wanted for “the death of more than 2,000 people in some churches”, Ng’oma said, without giving further details.

This request from Rwanda comes a few weeks after the arrest in South Africa of Fulgence Kayishema, who was then one of the last four fugitives wanted by UN investigators for their role in the genocide.

Kayishema, who used numerous aliases and forged documents, traveled on a Malawian passport.

Mr Ng’oma said authorities were carrying out “thorough investigations” to understand how the man, now 62, had obtained the document and would soon provide “a full report”.

Source