ICTR investigators to meet new Kenyan government
NAIROBI, 2 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The Rwandan businessman who allegedly
financed the 1994 genocide in his country, Felicien Kabuga, is "most likely" in
Kenya, the commander of the investigation section at the Kigali office of the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Maxwell Nkole, told
IRIN on Thursday.
He said that the tribunal was "in the process of establishing contact" with the
new Kenyan government, and that ICTR staff members were "on their way" to
discuss the case with Kenyan officials. To date, indications were that the new
administration would be "more than willing" to help with investigations, he
added.
The US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, told
reporters on Tuesday that Kabuga had been using "government infrastructure
to maintain his fugitive status in Kenya", the Associated Press reported.
Prosper accused Zakayo Cheruiyot, the Kenyan permanent secretary for
public administration and internal security, of providing Kabuga with
"protection", news agencies said. Cheruiyot has denied the charge.
Nkole went on to say that the latest information about Kabuga's whereabouts
had been obtained through the tribunal's investigations, as well as the US-led
Rewards for Justice programme, which offers up to US $5 million for
information leading to the arrest of war criminals.
The tribunal indicted Kabuga in 1998, accusing him of being "the main
supporter and financier of the Interahamwe militia" responsible for the 1994
Rwandan genocide. He was accused of making "massive purchases" of
machetes, hoes, and other agricultural implements, knowing that they would be
used to kill. He was also part owner of the infamous Radio Television Milles
Collines in Rwanda, which ordered Hutus to kill Tutsis, and which Human
Rights Watch has called "the voice of genocide".
Kabuga has been traced to several homes in the Kenyan cities of Nairobi,
Nakuru and Eldoret, according to the International Crisis Group, including
three belonging to Hosea Kiplagat, the nephew of Kenyan former President
Daniel arap Moi.
