An investigator on the payroll of the United Nations war crimes tribunal on Rwanda has been arrested and charged with genocide after he was identified by a witness in the courtroom in Tanzania.
The arrest yesterday of Simeon Nchamihigo, who had been working under a false name as a defence investigator, marks the latest embarrassment for the UN court and backs up recent Rwandan government claims that several tribunal employees are fugitives of the 1994 genocide in which at least 500,000 people died. Last month, another genocide suspect, Callixte Mbarushimana, was arrested in Kosovo where he had been working for the UN.
Mr Nchamihigo is wanted by Rwanda on so-called "class A" charges, which imply that he is suspected of being one of the organisers of the 100 days of killing that preceded the ousting of the extremist Hutu government in July 1994.
Under the name Sammy Bahati Weza, and using a passport from the Democratic Republic of Congo, he was employed as an investigator for the defence team of Samuel Imanishimwe, a former commander at the Rwandan army barracks in Cyangugu. Mr Imanishimwe is jointly charged with two other former senior Rwandan officials for genocide and crimes against humanity. Mr Nchamihigo is understood to have been a prosecutor in Cyangugu at the time of the genocide.
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Rwanda war crimes official charged with genocide
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