The remains of one of the main suspects of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda have been found in a grave in Congo-Brazzaville. Augustin Bizimana appears to have died for almost 20 years. That is what UN chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said on Friday.
Brammertz said in a statement that Augustin Bizimana, former Defense Minister of Rwanda, died in the city of Pointe Noire in 2000. A DNA test identified him.
Bizimana was charged in 1998. Among other things, he is held responsible for the approximately 100-day slaughter in Rwanda. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. He was accused of being one of the supreme commanders of the genocide.
Prime suspect Félicien Kabuga arrested
Last week, another prime suspect, Rwandan businessman Félicien Kabuga, was arrested in the French capital, Paris. He, too, was wanted for a lead role in the 1994 Tutsi massacre in Rwanda and was described as the lender. He was a fugitive for over 25 years.
Protais Mpiranya, the former commander of the Rwandan army’s presidential guard, is now the only one of the three main fugitive suspects who has not yet been captured.