Who was Felicien Kabuga? The fugitive financier of genocide

By Dominic Wabwireh with AP

Felicien Kabuga, once among Rwanda’s richest businessmen and later accused of helping finance the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, has died in detention while awaiting further legal proceedings before a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague.

Born in 1935 in northern Rwanda’s Byumba prefecture (now Gicumbi district), Kabuga rose from modest origins as a market trader selling small goods, cigarettes, and second-hand clothing.

He later moved to Kigali, where he built a business empire including shops, a tea plantation, a mill, and real estate holdings.

By the early 1990s, he was widely regarded as one of Rwanda’s wealthiest individuals and had developed close ties within political and business circles.

Alleged role in the 1994 genocide

Prosecutors accused Kabuga of playing a central role in the events leading up to and during the 1994 genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed over 100 days.

He was alleged to have helped establish and finance Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), a station widely condemned for broadcasting messages that incited violence.

He was also accused of funding militia groups and facilitating the distribution of machetes used in mass killings.

Kabuga consistently denied the charges, with his defence arguing he was a businessman with limited involvement in the station’s operations.

Indictments and international pursuit

In 1998, Kabuga was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on multiple counts, including genocide, complicity in genocide, and crimes against humanity.

An international arrest warrant followed a year later.

He spent more than two decades evading arrest, reportedly moving across several countries using false identities and benefiting from a network of supporters.

The United States later offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.

Arrest, trial collapse and final years

Kabuga was arrested in France in 2020 after years in hiding and transferred to The Hague to face trial before the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

However, proceedings were halted in 2023 after judges ruled he was unfit to stand trial due to his health. He remained in detention while discussions continued over his legal status.

At the time of his death, he had not been convicted of any charges.

A legacy defined by controversy

Kabuga’s legacy remains deeply polarizing. To prosecutors, he was a key financial backer of one of the 20th century’s most devastating genocides.

To his defence, he was a wealthy businessman wrongly cast as a central figure in the atrocities.

His death closes a long and closely watched international case that never reached a final verdict, leaving many of the allegations formally unproven in court.