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Mbarushimana is now seeking his own justice from the United Nations. He filed a complaint alleging the United Nations violated his rights as an employee during his detention in Kosovo. Mbarushimana was eventually released, but lost his U.N. job. He is now suing for back wages and an unspecified amount in damages.

A U.N. advisory body recently ruled in favor of Mbarushimana. His case is pending before the U.N. Administrative Tribunal. Mbarushimana now lives in France, where he was granted refugee status.

The Rwandan government continues to press for Mbarushimana's extradition.

Former U.N. employees who want Mbarushimana prosecuted see the entire episode as part of a broader failure of the U.N. system in Rwanda. They note that the UNDP never conducted an investigation into the killings of 33 Rwandan staff members during the genocide.

Memorial to the 33 U.N. Rwandan workers killed during the genocide.
photo by Stephen Smith

Those names are now engraved on a memorial in the middle of the UNDP compound in Kigali. The names include Florence Ngirumpatse, the UNDP administrator hacked to death by a squad of Hutu militia.

"Can we talk about betrayal? I think so," says Bisa Samari, the former UNDP economist. "The U.N. family betrayed its members and among them certainly Florence. She was one of the most loyal and the most dedicated, but she was only one among many, perhaps hundreds, in the U.N. system in Rwanda."

back to The Few Who Stayed: Defying Genocide in Rwanda

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