Army general held for genocide
2005-09-06 14:00
Kigali - A Rwandan traditional court trying genocide suspects has arrested an army general and detained him pending trial for participating in the country's 1994 massacre, but he will be transferred to military court, said officials on Tuesday.
Laurent Munyakazi, the first high-ranking army officer to be arrested by one of the traditional courts locally known as gacaca, was detained after his arrest on Monday in the capital's Rugenge district and was due to appear before a court-martial on date yet to be announced.
A senior military officer said: "He was arrested by a gacaca in Rugenge. The evidence against him was overwhelming.
An official with the gacaca, Domitille Mukantaganzwa, said: "He was put in detention by the gacaca ... which will transfer his case to the court-martial, that is the requirement of the law."
'Intimidated witnesses'
Referring to the category that qualified suspects as genocide planners, she said: "He was arrested because he committed crimes that puts him in the first category."
Mukantaganzwa added that Munyakazi was also sought because he "intimidated witnesses" and "tried to tamper with evidence".
Munyakazi, a Hutu, was a lieutenant-general in the army during the 1994 genocide in which some 800 000 people, mainly the minority Tutsi and moderate Hutus were massacred.
Genocide survivors had in the last few months accused Munyakazi on several occasions of being behind killings in Rugenge district, especially in Sainte-Famille church and in Saint Paul chapel.
Rwanda's 12 000 gacaca courts were empowered to try those who carried out the killings and hand down sentences ranging from community service to life in prison.