A Dutch court has cancelled the decision to deport to Rwanda, a man identified as Pierre-Claver Karangwa accused of role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Maj Karangwa, 66, has been living in the Netherlands since 1988. He was arrested by Dutch Police on 11th May 2022 in Ermelo.

Rwanda had issued arrest warrants against him to face justice over alleged responsibility in attacks to kill Tutsis at Mugina Parish in Kamonyi District during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

In 1994, Maj Karangwa was an officer serving under a para-military unit known as Gendarmerie.

Apart from Mugina, he is also suspected to have been involved in the killings of Tutsis in different parts of Kigali.

Following his arrest, Karangwa was arraigned before court and claimed that he does not expect fair justice in Rwanda.

His request has been validated during a hearing held on Wednesday.

Karangwa was born in former Mugina Sector, in the current Kamonyi District.

Between 1992 and 1993, he served as an intelligence officer in the former Rwanda Armed Forces (EX-FAR).

During the Genocide against the Tutsi, thousands of Tutsi citizens had sought refuge in the nearby parish of Mugina in April 1994.

It is said that the mayor of Mugina, who had tried to protect fleeing Tutsis, was killed by militia members, giving the army, police and militias free rein.

An estimated 30,000 Tutsis are said to have been killed during the Mugina parish massacre.

According to sources, Maj Karangwa was closely involved in the planning and execution of the massacres in Mugina, including the supply of weapons to militias that killed Tutsis.

The man and his accomplices are said to have led some 80 Tutsi civilians that had managed to escape the parish massacres to a house that was subsequently set on fire. Karangwa is also accused of having supplied the fuel.

It is said that, prior to the massacres, the man had chaired a meeting calling for Tutsi civilians to be attacked and killed. He is also alleged to have played a part in the assassination of the mayor of Mugina.

AE News