The Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) has arrested a 63-year-old man identified as Murakaza Valens from Karongi District, who is suspected of involvement in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Murakaza had previously been sentenced by a Gacaca court in Kavumu Sector, Karongi District, on August 24, 2011, to 15 years in prison. Authorities say he had been evading justice for the past 15 years.
According to information obtained by IGIHE, shortly after the verdict was delivered by the Gacaca court, Murakaza fled and went into hiding in Kigali. He later returned to his home area in Rutabi Village, Rutabi Cell, Twumba Sector in Karongi District, where he was eventually arrested following a tip-off indicating that he had been convicted by the Gacaca court.
He is currently being held at the RIB station in Twumba while investigators prepare a case file to be submitted to the National Public Prosecution Authority. Once the file is complete, he will be brought before a court to serve the sentence previously handed down by the Gacaca court of Kavumu Sector.
Under Article 92 of Rwanda’s penal code, genocide is punishable by life imprisonment without the possibility of sentence reduction due to mitigating circumstances.
The law defines genocide as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Such acts include killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life intended to bring about the group’s destruction, imposing measures intended to prevent births, or forcibly transferring children from the group to another group.
RIB spokesperson Thierry B. Murangira urged the public to avoid crimes and reminded citizens that genocide is an offense that never expires.
“RIB reminds everyone that killing is a grave crime and anyone who commits such acts will be brought to justice. Genocide is a crime that does not expire, and anyone responsible will eventually be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
