Rwandan genocide suspect Kabuga dies in custody in The Hague at age 91

Accused of bankrolling the mass killing of the Tutsis, Kabuga was declared unfit to continue standing trial because he had dementia

A Rwandan suspect charged in connection with the 1994 genocide died in a hospital while in custody in The Hague, Netherlands, a UN court said Saturday, three years after the court declared him unfit to continue standing trial.

Felicien Kabuga, 91, was accused of encouraging and bankrolling the mass killing of Rwanda’s Tutsi minority. His trial began in 2022, nearly three decades after the 100-day massacre that left 800,000 dead.

In 2023, the judges declared him unfit to continue standing trial because he had dementia and said they would establish a procedure to continue hearing evidence without the possibility of convicting him.

On Saturday, the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said in a statement that Kabuga died while hospitalised in The Hague, and the medical officer of the UN Detention Unit was notified immediately.

An investigation into his death has been ordered to establish the circumstances of how he died, the statement said.

An arrest warrant for Kabuga was issued in 2013, and a US$5 million bounty was announced. He was arrested in 2020 in France, and his trial started in 2022.