[JURIST] German authorities Wednesday transferred custody of Augustin Ngirabatware, a former Rwandan minister suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwanda genocide [BBC backgrounder], from a facility in Frankfurt to a UN Detention Facility in Arusha, Tanzania. In Tanzania, Ngirabatware awaits an appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website], where he is facing charges of conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide, and complicity in genocide. In a press statement [text], the ICTR expressed its "gratitude to the German Government for the arrest, detention and smooth transfer of the accused person to Arusha." AFP has more.

German police arrested Ngirabatware [JURIST report] in September 2007. The former Rwandan Minister of Planning had been a fugitive since 2001, when the ICTR issued a warrant for his arrest. Ngirabatware was one of 18 fugitives wanted by the ICTR. He is accused of providing weapons and support to Hutus during the 1994 slaughter of an estimated 800,000 Rwandans.