Felicien Kabuga died in custody in The Hague, Netherlands, on May 16, 2026, while awaiting trial for his role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide [1, 2, 3]. Kabuga was arrested in France in May 2020 after nearly three decades on the run and extradited to The Hague to face charges [1, 2, 3].
Kabuga, accused of financing the genocide, promoting hate speech through Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, and supplying arms to militias responsible for killing an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus over roughly 100 days, was one of the most wanted fugitives from the 1994 atrocities [1, 3].
Born in 1935 in northern Rwanda's Byumba prefecture (now Gicumbi district), Kabuga was a wealthy businessman before his arrest [3]. He faced charges including genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, incitement to genocide, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [3].
Kabuga's trial began in The Hague in September 2022, but in September 2023 the Trial Chamber indefinitely stayed proceedings after he was declared unfit to stand trial due to dementia [2, 3]. He remained in UN detention, hospitalized in The Hague at the time of his death, with the Detention Unit medical officer immediately notified [2, 3].
Following his death, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances. Judge Alphons Orie was assigned to the investigation [1, 3].
Kabuga’s age at death is reported as either 91 or 93 years old, according to differing sources [1, 2].
