Félicien Kabuga, one of the most prominent suspects linked to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, has died while in detention in The Hague before a verdict could be delivered in his international criminal case.
In a statement released Saturday, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) said: “Mr. Félicien Kabuga passed away today while hospitalized in The Hague, The Netherlands.”
The UN-backed court added that “the Dutch authorities have commenced the standard procedures and investigations required under Dutch national law.”
The President of the Mechanism, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, also ordered what the court described as “a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Kabuga’s death,” appointing Judge Alphons Orie to lead the process.
Kabuga had been facing charges including genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity tied to the 1994 killings that claimed an estimated 800,000 lives in about 100 days.
Prosecutors accused the wealthy businessman of helping finance extremist networks and supporting media broadcasts that fueled ethnic violence during the genocide.
An arrest warrant against Kabuga was first issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2013, but he remained on the run for decades before his dramatic arrest near Paris in May 2020.
He was transferred to The Hague later that year, with his trial beginning in September 2022.
However, proceedings were halted in 2023 after judges concluded he was no longer mentally or physically fit to stand trial. The court then indefinitely stayed proceedings and ordered that he remain under UN detention while discussions continued over his possible provisional release.
“At the time of his death, Mr. Kabuga was awaiting provisional release to a State willing to accept him on its territory,” the statement said.
Kabuga’s death effectively closes one of the last major unresolved prosecutions connected to the Rwanda genocide, a case that remained symbolically important for survivors, regional governments and international justice institutions across East Africa and the Great Lakes region.
The IRMCT, which operates from Arusha and The Hague, was established by the United Nations Security Council to continue the remaining work of the Rwanda and former Yugoslavia international tribunals after their closure.
No final judgment was ever reached in Kabuga’s case.
