For fifteen years Idelphonse Nizeyimana, also known as ‘The Butcher of Butare,’ was roaming freely in the province of Eastern Congo, terrorizing people, murdering innocent civilians and continuing his destructive behavior as a member of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu

rebel group that remains active in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is very likely that Nizeyimana had left Congo before to go on short trips to nearby countries. A week ago, however, his lucked turned and he was busted by Interpol agents in Kampala, Uganda and immediately extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania.

During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Nizeyimana was Rwanda’s Deputy Intelligence Chief, a role that gave him tremendous powers in orchestrating the massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. He supposedly gave the green light to set up roadblocks across the country that were manned by young militiamen, high and drugs and blood thirsty, who never hesitated to brutally murder anyone suspected of being a Tutsi, aiding or hiding them.

Butare was an area of the country where Tutsis and Hutus coexisted peacefully until the 1994 genocide. Although the killing spree did not spare this town, it arrived there late, and with the encouragement and diabolical consent of Mr. Idelphonse Nizeyimana.

The former Deputy Intelligence Chief is also accused of ordering the murder of Queen Rosalie Gicanda, who at the time was in her 80s and remained a symbol of the Tutsi monarchy. She, and other members of her household, were dragged out of her house in Butare and shot behind the National Museum.

It has been reported that over the course of the past 15 years Nizeyimana often bragged about his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and did not spare details of how he contributed to the murder of 800,000 people in less then 100 days. The US Government had a US$ 5 million reward for his arrest. As absurd as it may sound to most outsiders, genocide ideology is still rampant in Rwanda and in countries where genocidaires are hiding.

In a statement, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon welcomed his capture and said it marked an important step forward in the fight against impunity in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

This was the second big arrest in two months. Gregoire Ndahimana, a local administrator in Rwanda during the genocide, was caught this past August by Congolese troops during the UN backed operations against Hutu rebels. He too was flown immediately to Arusha and is awaiting trial. Let’s hope justice will be prompt and contribute to the reconciliation process.