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Rwanda’s Head of Intelligence Arrested For War Crimes

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The head of Rwanda’s intelligence service has been arrested in London, the BBC reports.

Karenzi Karake, who is wanted in Spain for war crimes, was detained when he arrived at Heathrow Airport on Saturday. He is due to appear in court in London on Thursday.

Louise Mushikiwabo, the spokeswoman for the Rwandan government called the arrest an “an outrage.”

Karake was indicted by a Spanish judge in 2008 for alleged war crimes along with 39 other current or former high-ranking Rwandan military officials. He was also accused of ordering the killing of three Spanish nationals working for Medicos del Mundo. The charges date from after the Rwandan genocide in which 800,000 people were killed by Hutu extremists. The dead were mostly from the minority Tutsi tribe. The killing ended when the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, of which Karake was a member, invaded and overthrew the Hutu government.

Karake visited the U.K often and it is unclear why he was arrested at the weekend. Andrew Mitchell, the former U.K. minister for international development, told the BBC he thought the arrest was “completely wrong” and that the Spanish indictments were “un-researched, politically motivated and lacking in facts.”

[BBC]

Inside the Tech Revolution That's Turning Rwanda Around

Fellows in the Code Club 2015 work at the Hehe Labs headquarters at "The Office" in Kigali, Rwanda, a co-working space for young entrepreneurs.
Fellows in Code Club 2015 work at the Hehe Labs headquarters at "The Office" in Kigali, Rwanda, a coworking space for young entrepreneurs.Cassandra Giraldo
"The Office", a coworking space in Kigali, Rwanda is a shared office where tech entrepreneurs, consultants, freelancers, small business owners, and remote employees can rent desk space and share the costs of a full-service office.
"The Office", a coworking space in Kigali. It is a shared office where tech entrepreneurs, consultants, freelancers, small business owners, and remote employees rent desk space and share the costs of a full-service office.Cassandra Giraldo
Code Club 2015 fellows working at Hehe Labs.
Code Club 2015 fellows working at Hehe Labs.Cassandra Giraldo
A S.O.S. Kagugu Technical High School student during an after school coding club run by HeHe Ltd. youth fellows.
A S.O.S. Kagugu Technical High School student during an after school coding club run by HeHe Lab's youth fellows. Cassandra Giraldo
Coding Fellows gather around the computer to learn HTML at an after school program run by HeHe Ltd. at SOS Technical High School.
Coding fellows gather around a computer to learn HTML at an after school program run by HeHe Labs at S.O.S. Technical High School.Cassandra Giraldo
Inventing Rwanda
Elisée Pax Mfura, 18, and his classmates leave the after-school program run by HeHe Labs.Cassandra Giraldo
Inside kLab, a co-working space for tech entrepreneurs located in Telecom House in Kigali's future high-tech ICT neighborhood, Kacyiru.
Inside kLab, a co-working space for tech entrepreneurs located in Telecom House in Kigali's future high-tech ICT neighborhood, Kacyiru. Cassandra Giraldo
Young women transport corn husks in the outskirts of Kigali. Rwanda is attempting to turn an agrarian society into a knowledge-based economy and instilling a sense of national identity and unity in Rwandans.
Young women transport corn husks in the outskirts of Kigali. Rwanda is attempting to turn it's agrarian society into a knowledge-based economy and instilling a sense of national identity and unity in Rwandans. Cassandra Giraldo
A government-sponsored fiber-optic cable expansion project was completed in 2011, improving telecommunication services throughout the country. The cellular network covers nearly 98% of the population. Advertisements for phone service providors can be seen all over Kigali, even painted on family homes.
A government-sponsored fiber-optic cable expansion project was completed in 2011, improving telecommunication services throughout the country. Advertisements for phone service providors can be seen all over Kigali, even painted on family homes. Cassandra Giraldo
Josephine Niyigena, 25, chats with a friend on her cell phone while she sells fabric at Kimironko market in Kigali. The cellular network covers nearly 98% of the population.
Josephine Niyigena, 25, chats with a friend on her cell phone while she sells fabric at Kimironko market in Kigali. The cellular network covers nearly 98% of the population. Cassandra Giraldo

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