JUSTICE:Tribunal expresses confidence in local judicial process

Prosecutors in Kigali yesterday welcomed a decision by the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to refer the case against Fulgence Kayishema to Rwanda. The suspect is still at large.On Wednesday, the Tribunal ruled that in case he is arrested, he should be returned to Rwanda to face trial. Kayishema is the former head of the judicial police in Kibuye. The court order came after the Prosecution convinced the tribunal that the fugitive would get a fair trial since Rwanda has made the presumption of innocence part of its statutory criminal law, and that the accused would be detained in conditions that comply with required international standards."The referral of this case shall not have the effect of revoking the previous orders and decisions of this Tribunal in this case, including any protective measures for witnesses previously imposed,” ruled the tribunal.It  therefore ordered the ICTR Prosecution to hand over to the Prosecutor General of  Rwanda, "as soon as possible and not later than 30 days after this decision has become final, the material supporting the indictment against the accused and all other appropriate evidentiary material in the possession of the Prosecution”.John Bosco Siboyintore, the head of the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit (GFTU), yesterday told The New Times: "We are very happy for the development after the referral of Jean Uwinkindi (another top Genocide suspect).”Last year, the ICTR referred the first suspect, Uwinkindi, to Rwanda for trial. "Kayishema Fulgence is still at large but at least a ruling has been made on which country will handle his case once he is arrested; in this regard the High Court of Rwanda,” said Siboyintore, who is also a national prosecutor."This emphasises the trust that the tribunal has in our domestic jurisdiction in dispensing justice fairly. It will be a legal precedent for other countries to extradite Genocide fugitives to be tried in Rwanda, and have less burden and financial constraints to try them in Europe.”Siboyintore noted that it ws "extremely expensive” to have the cases tried outside Rwanda seeing that in some countries where trials have taken place, it took the countries "millions of dollars.”"We are very happy with this ruling and my appeal to both Rwandans and foreigners is to give us information leading to his arrest, as there is a US$5 million bounty on his head by the US Government to whoever will give valuable information that will lead to his arrest,” Siboyintore added.In another case, the defence for former Rwandan Planning Minister Augustin Ngirabatware on Wednesday closed its case after calling 35 witnesses before the ICTR. His trial started on September 22, 2009.Uwinkindi transfer delays Meanwhile, a pending decision by the Appeals Chamber of the (ICTR is delaying the transfer of Genocide suspect Jean Uwikindi, which was expected to take place this week.Uwinkindi last month petitioned the tribunal to reconsider its decision to refer his case to Rwanda, which saw the chamber place an interim order on January 26 delaying his transfer. Uwinkindi’s lawyers want him to remain in the ICTR custody until an operational monitoring mechanism by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), as previously ordered by Trial Chamber, is put in place.But the ICTR Prosecutor, Hassan Boubacar Jallow, asked the chamber to reject the application saying it was procedurally and substantively flawed.The transfer was expected to take place not later than yesterday but, according to Roland Amoussouga, the ICTR Spokesperson, the transfer has again been delayed pending the decision of the appeals chamber."As you might be aware, Uwinkindi filed an application to review the decision of referral back to Rwanda. An interim order was put in place halting the transfer until such a time when the chamber has looked into the concerns raised by his lawyers."We are all waiting for the appeals chamber to pronounce itself on what next. In principle, this is the first time ever for such a development to take place at the ICTR. This is something that cannot be rushed until everything is looked into,” Amoussouga told The New Times.Amoussouga said that when the Chamber pronounces itself, the ICTR registrar will go ahead to file for a transfer from the ICTR custody."This is a judicial matter subject to recourses. Even someone who has been sentenced to life or death is given an opportunity to ask the court to review the final ruling and reconsider where possible,” he said.The former clergyman was born in 1961 in the former Kivumu commune, Kibuye prefecture. He is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and extermination, according to the ICTR indictment. A decision authorising the transfer of Uwinkindi’s case had been confirmed by the Appeals Chamber on December 16, 2011, after he challenged an earlier ruling.ICTR Prosecutor Jallow said Uwinkindi failed to demonstrate any exceptional circumstances meriting reconsideration of the Chamber’s decision.He had expressed confidence that the Registrar would meet the deadline for the transfer, but is still remains unclear when Uwinkindi will be transferred to Kigali.In an interview with The New Times, the Spokesperson of the National Public Prosecution Authority, Alain Mukularinda, said the delay was unexpected."We were informed that the transfer was halted because of the application by Uwinkindi himself and other people who insisted on issues of monitoring before the transfer is made.”"We are awaiting the Judges’ decision but, otherwise, we are ready. We expect the process not to take long,” h said.However, the president of Ibuka, the umbrella group for Genocide survivors, Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, said the latest twist is an attempt to delay justice. "We are not surprised. There are people who will always do their best to halt such a process, including revisionists and Genocide deniers."It’s a matter of time before justice takes its course. We have seen this happen in the past, but the case in point is the deportation of Léon Mugesera,” he said.Jean Uwinkindi was arrested in Uganda in June 2010 on counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. He is alleged to have led several groups of armed killers targeting Tutsi civilians in multiple attacks that spanned the 100 days of the genocide between April and July 1994. At that time, Uwinkindi was pastor in charge of the Pentecostal Church of Kayenzi in Nyamata, south east of Kigali. Closely aligned with the extremist wing of the MRND party, Uwinkindi is alleged to have sought the assistance of gendarmes and the ex-FAR to exterminate the local Tutsi population. He later fled in July 1994, after 2,000 corpses were discovered near his church.