UN rights chief welcomes arrest of Rwanda genocide suspect

GENEVA

The UN human rights chief on Thursday hailed the arrest of Rwanda genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema.

"The arrest of Fulgence Kayishema is another win for justice, and his upcoming trial will hopefully bring some comfort to the survivors of his alleged crimes," Volker Turk said in a statement.

Kayishema, one of the last fugitives indicted in connection with the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi – an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region – was arrested in South Africa on Wednesday.

"Coming almost exactly three years since the arrest of Felicien Kabuga, it should send a clear message to the three others still at large that justice will not tire in its pursuit, no matter how long it takes," Turk assured.

Kayishema is accused of orchestrating the massacre of over 2,000 people, including men, women, and children, on April 15, 1994, at a church in Nyange, Kibuye Prefecture, in western Rwanda.

He was charged with genocide, involvement in genocide, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2001, and has been on the run since.