Protais Mpiranya | |
|---|---|
 Two photos of Protais Mpiranya from the 1990s | |
| Born | 30 May 1956 |
| Died | 5 October 2006 (aged 50) |
| Other names | Sambao Ndume |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Criminal charge |
|
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Rwanda |
| Service/ | Rwandan Armed Forces |
| Years of service | 1979[1] – 1994 |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | Rwandan Civil War |
Protais Mpiranya (30 May 1956 – 5 October 2006),[2] also known as Sambao Ndume, was a Rwandan war criminal who was internationally wanted for his alleged role in the Rwandan genocide. Regarded as Rwanda's most wanted fugitive, he was described in 2022 as "one of the world’s most brutal killers", and was internationally recognised as the most sought génocidaire.[3]
Born to a Hutu family in Gitarama, Mpiranya was a major in the Rwandan Armed Forces at the time of the war and commanded the Presidential Guard. He became highly involved with the leadership of the Interahamwe shortly thereafter, and was radicalised as an avowed Hutu supremacist. Leading Hutu militias, forces under his command tortured, sexually mutilated and murdered Prime Minister Agathe Unwilingiyimana and a force of UN peacekeepers from Ghana and Belgium assigned to protect her. Many more government officials, such as Faustin Rucogoza, were murdered by Mpiranya before he and his forces embarked on the genocide of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians. He became a fugitive from justice after the RPF defeated the genocidal government in the Rwandan Civil War, and disappeared without a trace in the aftermath. Initially believed to be hiding in the DR Congo or Zimbabwe, Mpiranya was indicted on multiple genocide-related charges by the United Nations in 2002, war crimes and crimes against humanity. His whereabouts remained unknown, but in 2012, under pressure from Kigali, the Zimbabwean government admitted that he could possibly be at large in the country, and promised to find him "dead or alive". However, no new leads were found.[4]
In 2022, DNA evidence which was extrapolated during the exhumation of a grave in Harare confirmed that the body of a man who died in October 2006 is that of Mpiranya. According to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which has investigated Mpiranya for almost thirty years, Mpiranya fled to Zimbabwe in 2002 and his entry was facilitated by local officials. Then, he brought his associates and family to Zimbabwe, along with a series of "trusted subordinates". For four years, Mpiranya evaded capture by living under the assumed name Sambao Ndume, living in affluence in Harare while he continued "his engagement with Zimbabwean military officials" and received a series of visitors from overseas.[5] Having never been tried, he is considered one of the worst war criminals in history to escape justice.[6]
- ^ "Summary of Results: Fugitive Tracking Investigation of Protais MPIRANYA" (PDF). IRMCT. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ "Twenty-year search for Rwanda genocide suspect ends in Zimbabwe grave". Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ "Zimbabwe denies harbouring deceased Rwandan genocide fugitive". the Guardian. 15 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ "Zimbabwe denies harbouring deceased Rwandan genocide fugitive". the Guardian. 15 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ "Zimbabwe denies harbouring deceased Rwandan genocide fugitive". the Guardian. 15 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ "Rwandan genocide fugitive Protais Mpiranya confirmed dead". BBC News. 12 May 2022. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
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