Idelphonse Nizeyimana Arrested: Butcher of Butare Arrested: Queen of Rwanda Killer Arrested?

Idelphonse Nizeyimana has been arrested. Known as the Butcher of Butare, Nizeyimana is accused of being one of the "top four" men who directed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He is believed to have ordered the execution of Rosalie Gicanda, the Queen of Rwanda and the head of the Tutsi tribe.

Idelphonse Nizeyimana

Nizeyimana has been sought by authorities for 15 years, and was thought to be hiding out in the Congo. Idelphonse Nizeyimana is charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwants (ICTR) of genocide, incitement to genocide, and crimes against humanity. He was one of 12 still at large, charged in the genocide.

Six accused were acquitted and thirty found guilty or pleaded guilty.
A further 26 cases are in progress and three suspects were awaiting trial before Mr Nizeyimana's arrest.

The Ugandan police and Interpol arrested the fugitive, after receiving a tip. He was found in Kampala on Monday evening "after crossing into Uganda from Congo with fake papers."

He was flown on a chartered United Nations aircraft early on Tuesday to cells at the ICTR, which sits in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha.

The Butcher of Butare was reportedly traveling to Kenya when arrested. Queen Gicanda was the widow of King Mutara III. This report gives details of her execution:

Hutu soldiers took Queen Rosalie Gicanda from her home in the south-eastern town of Butare and shot her behind the national museum alongside several women who looked after Queen Rosalie Gicanda, who was about 80 years old when she was killed

Queen Rosalie Gicanda

See information on Queen Rosalie Gicanda here.