Ignace Murwanashyaka

Who is Ignace Murwanashyaka?

Dr. Ignace Murwanashyaka is the current leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Rwandan Hutu rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FDLR are responsible for large scale human rights violations and crimes against humanity, including rape on a massive scale.

Murwanashyaka was born in Butare and has studied in West Germany. In November 2005 he was blacklisted by the United Nations for violating an arms embargo aimed at promoting peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and subjected to a travel bans and assets freeze.

He was arrested on 7 April 2006 in Mannheim, Germany for immigration violations and released shortly after. On 26 May 2006 preliminary investigation were opened against him for "Initial suspicion of involvement in crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo", but the prosecution has since been abandoned. Rwanda indicated it would seek his extradition for alleged crimes committed during the Rwandan Genocide and has issued an arrest warrant.

He was arrested again on 17 November 2009 by the German authorities. The trial for him and his alleged aide Straton Musoni began on May 4, 2011 before the Oberlandesgericht in Stuttgart. They are accused of several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity according to the German Völkerstrafgesetzbuch. Their trial is the first to be held in Germany for crimes against this law.