Türk welcomes arrest of Rwanda genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema

GENEVA (25 May 2023) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today hailed the arrest in South Africa of Fulgence Kayishema, one of last fugitives indicted in connection with the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

“The arrest of Fulgence Kayishema is another win for justice, and his upcoming trial will hopefully bring some comfort to the survivors of his alleged crimes,” said Türk.

“Coming almost exactly three years since the arrest of Felicien Kabuga, it should send a clear message to the three others still at large that justice will not tire in its pursuit, no matter how long it takes.”

Kayishema is alleged to have orchestrated the killings of more than 2,000 men, women, and children on 15 April 1994 at a church in Nyange, Kibuye Prefecture, in western Rwanda. He was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2001 and charged with genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity, and has been on the run since.