The Rwandan government has asked France for the extradition of two men arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a Catholic priest, and Laurent Bucyibaruta, an ex-civil servant, were detained in France after the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued warrants for their arrest. The two had been living in France for years. The arrest warrants allege the two men played in role in orchestrating the slaughter of 800,000 ethnic Tutsi's and moderate Hutus in the central African republic.
Munyeshyaka has been charged with complicity in rape and genocide, while Bucyibaruta has been charged with genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, extermination, murder and rape.
Rwandan officials have implied that France has provided refuge to alleged war criminals involved in the genocide. It also accuses French troops of training the troops who carried out the massacres, though France denies the charges, pointing to its role in the U.N. peacekeeping mission sanctioned in Rwanda. Rwanda severed relations with France after a French judge implied Rwandan President Paul Kagame played a role in the death of the former ruler – an event which sparked the 100 day genocide.
