NAIROBI, Kenya- The United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) has confirmed the death of Félicien Kabuga, one of the key suspects linked to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Kabuga died while under detention in The Hague, Netherlands, according to a statement issued by the UN-backed tribunal.
The Mechanism said Dutch authorities immediately launched the mandatory investigations required under national law to establish the circumstances surrounding his death.
The 93-year-old was among the last high-profile fugitives sought over the genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed within 100 days by Hutu extremists in Rwanda.
Kabuga was arrested near Paris in 2020 after spending more than two decades on the run and was later transferred to The Hague to face trial before the UN tribunal.
Prosecutors accused him of financing and promoting the genocide through Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), a station blamed for spreading hate propaganda and inciting killings during the massacre.
However, the proceedings against him were indefinitely suspended in 2023 after judges ruled that he was unfit to stand trial due to advanced dementia and deteriorating health.
The UN tribunal stated that despite being declared medically unfit, Kabuga remained in custody because no country had agreed to receive him outside Rwanda, which he reportedly opposed returning to.
His death marks the end of one of the longest-running international manhunts linked to the Rwanda genocide, a case that remained symbolically significant for survivors and international justice efforts.
