Three men suspected of being involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide have been arrested and charged in Belgium with serious human rights abuses, prosecutors said on Saturday.
The office gave no details about the three, but said their identity had been established using testimony collected in Rwanda by a Belgian investigation.
“Two were arrested on Tuesday in Brussels and the third on Wednesday in Hainault (province),” said Eric Van Duyse, a spokesman for the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
“All three have been charged with serious human rights abuses,” the spokesman said, confirming a report in the weekly publication Vif / L’Express.
One of the men has been put under electronic surveillance while the other two are in custody, he said.
Whether the men face trial will “ultimately be decided in the case prepared by the investigating judge and the prosecution,” Van Duyse said.
The 1994 genocide claimed 800,000 lives, mostly Tutsis, but also moderate Hutus.
Belgium has held five lawsuits against Rwandans involved in the killings since 2001, four of which that year – including two nuns – were sentenced to up to 20 years for handing over Tutsis in their shelters to Hutu militants.
Last December, former senior Rwandan official Fabien Neretse was found guilty of genocide and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
(AFP)
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