The prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha (ICTR() Hassan Jallow says the former Rwandan presidential guard commander Protais Mpiranya is hiding somewhere in Zimbabwe but Harare has not cooperated in his extradition
Jallow explains the former Rwandan presidential guard commander Protais Mpiranya is hiding somewhere in the southern African country but the Harare government has not taken action on Rwanda’s request for his extradition.
Mpiranya is wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity by the UNs war crimes tribunal for Rwanda.
Despite a $US5m ($5.2m) bounty, Mpiranya has evaded justice for 14 years. But his presence has been detected, sometimes in Zimbabwe and sometimes in the Congo, a UN source said.
Yet the Zimbabwean government and police have denied Mpiranya is in Zimbabwe. But sources say he enjoys ties with the military and may be enjoying their protection.
He is suspected of enjoying business links with former army officers close to the country’s president, Robert Mugabe.
Mpiranya fled to neighbouring Congo. When conflict erupted there in 1998, sucking in six African countries including Zimbabwe, he allied his forces with the 11,000 Zimbabwean troops that Mugabe had sent in.
UN sources said Mpiranya established personal business links with several Zimbabwean officers, some of whom set up their own companies to plunder Congos wealth. It is these links that enable him to feel secure in Zimbabwe.
After hunting down, sexually assaulting and murdering Agathe Uwilingiyimana, the prime minister, on April 7, 1994, troops under his command hacked to death the 10 Belgian UN paratroops who had been ordered to protect her.
Their slaughter panicked the Belgian government into withdrawing its troops, in effect rendering the UN force powerless.
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