Isaac Kamali, a former senior member of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND) in Rwanda, was arrested trying to enter the United States. Kamali, who was detained in Philadelphia, is suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where roughly a half-million Tutsi minorities were slaughtered. Interpol had issued a Red Notice for Kamali and appears on Rwanda's most wanted list it had supplied to the international police organization.
Kamali was working in southern France was traveling on a French passport. Rwandan officials have accused France of harboring masterminds of the 100 day genocide in Rwanda. He is alleged to have moved to France in 1997. Rwandan officials have stated their desire to see Kamali extradited to Rwanda or to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The United States and Rwanda do not have an extradition treaty, however, the nature of Kamali's alleged crimes fall under international obligations.
Kamali is indicted on several counts of murder, extermination, and inciting genocide. He is accused of actively participating and orchestrating the initial onslaught against the Tutsi minority following the assassination of the Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana. The assassination was seen as a catalyst for Hutu militias to begin a systematic cleansing campaign lasting roughly 100 days and resulting in nearly a half-million dead.
