Double citizenship should not protect Genocide suspects: case of Ndereyehe in the Netherlands

Ndereyehe Ntahontuye Charles, a genocide fugitive in The Netherlands

On September 8, 2020, one of the masterminds of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Charles Ntahontuye Ndereyehe, alias Karoli, 72, was arrested in the Netherlands, where he has lived since 1997.

His arrest came after he had lost the Dutch citizenship he obtained in 2003. However, barely a day passed before he was unexpectedly released. This happened after his lawyer, Marq Wijngaarden, quickly produced a document in which his client challenged his deprivation of Dutch citizenship.

On November 5, 2008, Ndereyehe was sentenced to life imprisonment, in absentia, by the Gacaca Court - a Rwandan system of community justice - after being found guilty of genocide. He took part in massacres carried out at the Rwanda Agricultural Research Institute (ISAR), of which he had become director general in 1993. According to the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), on April 26, 1994, more than 300 people were killed under his orders.

On April 20, 2010, Rwanda issued an international arrest warrant for Ndereyehe. He is on the International Police's wanted list. That, however, has not stopped him from continuing to carry out extremist propaganda activities in Europe and elsewhere.

Ndereyehe fled Rwanda in 1994 after the genocidal government, its army and Interahamwe militia were defeated in battle. This former member of the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), an extremist Hutu party created in 1992, fled along with most of the genocide perpetrators to the then Zaire - now the Democratic Republic of Congo - and eventually made his way to the Netherlands. The CDR played a major role in the 1994 genocide; its preparation, and calling on the Hutu masses to join forces in order to exterminate the Tutsi.

While still a refugee in Zaïre, on April 3, 1995, he participated in the creation of an extremist politico-military group called the RDR founded on Genocide ideology.

In the Netherlands, he is one of the leaders of FDU-Inkingi, another terrorist party founded on genocide ideology. He continues to be an active member of FDU-Inkingi, which the opposition leader Victoire Ingabire headed for a long time before founding a new party, DALFA.

In various FDU-Inkingi statements, Ndereyehe strongly denies the Genocide against the Tutsi, educates people to deny it and undermines the commemoration of the genocide by calling it a "trade fund" or a business. 

From his home in Harderwijk, a municipality and city, Ndereyehe coordinates Rwandan extremist groups which advance a racist ideology, the kind that led Rwanda to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. These extremist groups include Fédération des Organisations Rwandaises aux pays Bas (FEDERMO), Collectif des Associations Rwandaises aux Pays-Bas (CARP), Réseau International des Femmes pour la Démocratie et la Paix (RIFDP-NL), DEN HAAG, Pro Justitia, and Foundation for Freedom and Democracy in Rwanda (FFDR).

Charles Ndereye seen here with his wife, Florentine Mukasine, a known staunch denier of the 1994 Genocide and member of FDU-Inkingi

In 2003, Ndereyehe acquired Dutch citizenship under false testimony - a path followed by many other genocide fugitives now residing in foreign countries.

Despite his life sentence, for genocide, and the fact that Rwanda has officially informed Dutch authorities about his crimes and sentence, Ndereyehe, has hidden under the shadow of the fraudulently acquired Dutch citizenship to evade the arm of the law as well as continue his heinous plots against present day Rwanda’s peace and stability, with impunity.

Worse still, he continues to perpetuate the denial of the Genocide Against the Tutsi which he heavily participated in. According to his Dutch lawyer, Ndereyehe is a Dutch citizen who shouldn’t be extradited to Rwanda.

However, according to Dutch law, the Dutch State can revoke an adult's Dutch citizenship if, among others, after naturalisation, the adult has not done everything possible to renounce their other citizenship with the authorities in the country of their initial or first citizenship.

 Another legal condition for revoking Dutch citizenship is when someone committed fraud during their naturalisation process or option procedure. For example, fraud that involves their true identity. One commits fraud if he or she makes a false declaration, deceives or conceals important facts and becomes a Dutch citizen as a result of it - just like in Ndereye’s case.

For Ndereyehe, the latter two points as clearly stipulated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Kingdom of the Netherlands should have been enough reason to pave way for the criminal's extradition to Rwanda, if no hidden agenda is at play.

Ndereye has never taken any step to renounce his Rwandan citizenship, neither in Rwanda nor at the Embassy of Rwanda in The Hague in accordance with Dutch law and Rwandan law on nationality. He, therefore, is still a Rwandan national. Records from the Rwanda Immigration and Emigration office indicate that Ndereye and his wife, Florentine Mukasine, in 2008 applied to renew their Rwandan passports. 

Evidence of Ndereyehe’s role in the Genocide against the Tutsi is compelling. But Dutch authorities decided, for more than 20 years, to turn a blind eye - hence faulting their own laws at the expense of a Genocide suspect.

Ndereye who was arrested on September 9, 2020 and released the next day has not yet appeared in court for his appeal case. While the Dutch government is credited for having successfully prosecuted, sentenced and extradited some Genocide fugitives on it’s soil it still remains unclear how and why it has avoided Ndereyehe for more than 27 years well knowing that he is a wanted man.

According to sources familiar with Ndereyehe’s case, Dutch authorities at one point informed Rwandan authorities that they cannot extradite a Dutch citizen to Rwanda without a bilateral extradition treaty. The Government of Rwanda replied with a proposal for a bilateral treaty.

Unfortunately, in their response, Dutch authorities recommended Rwanda to accede to the Multilateral Treaty for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and Extradition For Domestic Prosecution of the Most Serious International Crimes - crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which still hasn’t been negotiated and concluded.

How and when this MLA will come into effect for the Netherlands to finally arrest and extradite Ndereyehe remains to be seen.

In January, the Netherlands' Foreign Minister, Stef Blok, announced that the government would be setting aside an additional €2 million to support UN teams involved in fact-finding investigations and seeking justice for victims of serious human rights violations.

According to a statement posted on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website in relation to the €2million pledge, the Netherlands is lauded for its highly active role in the fact-finding investigations and seeking justice for victims of serious human rights violations to ensure that most serious violators are brought to trial.

Observers wonder what it means when Ndereyehe - a Dutch citizen as he claims - is engaged in subversive activities against Rwanda on his own behalf or whether he could be a pawn being used by the Dutch government.

The other question is: can the Netherlands proclaim support to its citizens who are destabilising other countries?  The Dutch government appears uninterested in masters of peace and security as well as pays no attention to Rwanda's evidence against terrorists operating on its soil. The other question then is: could these terrorist organizations and individuals be funded, supported and shielded by authorities in the Netherlands?

Ndereyehe seen here posing with other Rwandan renegedes and terror groups leaders including Kayumba Nyamwasa and Patrick Karegyeya is an active member of FDLR and RNC terrorist groups operating in eastern DRC

Ndereyehe played a key role in the massacre carried out at ISAR Rubona. He is continuing the genocide ideology where in the Netherlands.  Ndereyehe Ntahontuye is from Cyabingo Commune in the former Ruhengeri Prefecture.

At the beginning, Ndereyehe was an MRND member, however in 1992 he abandoned MRND to participate in the creation of another Hutu extremist party called “Coalition pour la Défense de la République” - CDR - which participated massively in the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.  He started the genocide planning before he was sent to ISAR.

At the time, he was one of the civil servants who formed the Interahamwe militia in Gikongoro, along with Captain Sebuhura Faustin who was the deputy commander of the Gikongoro Gendarmery. Sebuhura was from Mukingo Commune in Ruhengeri, the same region as Ndereyehe.

While forming the Interahamwe group in Gikongoro, Ndereyehe was supported by the  leaders of agricultural projects in Gikongoro especially Pierre Célestin Mutabaruka who led Crête Zaïre Nil project, Leaders of Mata Tea factory (Denis Kamodoka) and Kitabi Tea Factory (Juvénal Ndabarinze), various leaders in Gikongoro Prefecture including Ayurugari Justin, Chef of ELECTROGAZ and Celse Semigabo, a prosecutor.