February 15, 2000
Two former Rwandan military officers have been arrested, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said. In a statement, the tribunal said that Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye was arrested in France and Innocent Sagahutu in Denmark.
The statement was issued by chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte in Arusha, Tanzania, where the tribunal sits. The ICTR said that the accused would be transferred to Arusha "as soon as the practical details of the their transfer can be arranged". [...] The statement described the two men as "high-ranking military officers", but it did not give their ranks.
Mr. Sagahutu, identified as a former Rwanda army captain, is wanted in connection with the murder of Rwanda's former Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. He is also accused of involvement in the killing of 10 Belgian peacekeepers deployed to protect her at the start of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
During the atrocities, ethnic Hutu extremists slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. ICTR spokesman Kingsley Moghalu said Mr. Sagahutu was among several army officers allegedly involved in ordering the murders.
Six charges
Mr. Sagahutu now faces six charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for that and other alleged atrocities. "He was also responsible for several massacres of Tutsis in Kigali and other parts of the country," Mr. Moghalu said.
He added that Mr. Nzuwonemeye is a former Rwandan major but did not give details of his alleged crimes.
The ICTR came under criticism last year after its appeal court ordered the release of a key suspect on a technicality. But it has regained credibility with the arrest of several suspects in Europe.
According to the ICTR, Mr. Nzuwonemeye is the second genocide suspect to be arrested in France in less than three months, after former minister Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda was apprehended in November at Bourges.
