A man wanted for crimes against humanity and other serious offences in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice, has been arrested by French police.
Marcel Bivugabagabo was arrested in Toulouse on Tuesday following close co-operation between the INTERPOL General Secretariat, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Kigali, the Rwandan judicial authorities and France.
A former Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the military operations in the Gisenyi and Ruhengeri areas in 1994, Bivugabagabo is wanted for genocide and is charged with involvement in the attacks against the appeal court of Ruhengeri and the campus in Nyakinama in which hundreds of people were killed.
In October 2007, a team from INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Service travelled to Rwanda to meet with the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICTR, Rwandan Judicial authorities and INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau in Kigali to further develop co-operation in relation to the location and apprehension of suspects around the world.
“The close co-operation between INTERPOL, Rwandan judicial authorities and French Police in this case is another clear signal to those Rwandan genocide fugitives still at large of our commitment to spare no effort in finding and bringing them to justice,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.
Bivugabagabo is the third man wanted in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide to be arrested in France as a result of international co-operation facilitated by INTERPOL. In June 2007 Isaac Kamali was arrested by police at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and in October of last year Dominique Ntawukuriryayo was apprehended in Carcassone.