Marcel Hitayezu, who had lived in France for twenty years, served in a parish in the south of France and had even acquired French nationality. This Rwandan priest has been imprisoned and charged since Wednesday, April 14, overrun by accusations of his role in the 1994 Tutsi genocide.
As early as 2015, Rwanda issued an international arrest warrant against him. One year later, after a brief procedure, French justice refused the extradition, citing the “absence of an exact definition” of the concept of genocide, which was presented by Rwandan justice in this case.
This time, the arrest in France was ordered by a judge from the “crimes against humanity” section of the court. Marcel Hitayesu was therefore detained and declared “genocide” and “crimes against humanity”.
At the beginning of the complaint we find the collection of civil parties for Rwanda, CPCR. In December, its president, Alain Gauthier, visited the pastor’s former parish, located in southern Rwanda in Mubuga.
According to him, the testimonies gathered on the spot highlight the priest’s responsibility in the massacre of many of his parishioners. Marcel Hitayesu is said to have robbed men and women of refugees in his church of water and food before being massacred by Interahamwe, the Hutu militia genocide.
His arrest is therefore “good news” for Alain Gauthier. Reached by phone, he told us that several similar cases were being investigated.
Read also: The Tutsi genocide in Rwanda: Duclert report officially handed over to President Kagame
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