Kabuye in France on Wednesday

KIGALI - Rose Kabuye, Director of State Protocol will be transferred from Germany to France, a government official announced yesterday. Her lawyer told AFP news agency on Saturday: “Everything is in order. She will be transferred to Paris on Wednesday.” Kabuye enjoyed diplomatic immunity by the time of her arrest.Her arrest in Germany on Sunday was on the basis of an arrest warrant stemming from controversial indictments by French Judge, Jean Louis Bruguière, who claims that she played a role in the downing of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane. Other activists who condemned the manipulation of the International Law by the Europeans include Brian Kagoro, a Zimbabwean international human rights lawyer. Former British Premier, Tony Blair, on Thursday evening said the arrest in Germany of Rose Kabuye was an unfortunate development that needed to be resolved quickly. “I think the most important thing about this unfortunate situation that has happened this way is that it should be resolved as quickly as possible,” Blair said. Kabuye’s arrest has led to various international law experts accusing Germany of double standards in its judicial system. “Germany, a country that should be more sympathetic to victims of the Genocide given its own tragic history, has shown where its sympathies lie by arresting Kabuye and in the same week releasing FDLR leaders,” said Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, a renowned panafricanist. Dr. Tajudeen questioned the applicability of international law, saying that European countries are manipulating it according to how it better serves their interests. The US officially blacklisted the FDLR and its top leaders and branded a terrorist group. The United States has condemned the recent release by Germany of Genocide fugitive Callixte Mbarushimana. Arrested in July, Mbarushimana, who is also the current Secretary General of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) was released by a German court despite pleas by the Rwandan Government to extradite him. “We are disappointed that leaders like Callixte Mbarushimana and FDLR President Ignace Murwanashyaka are able to operate with impunity although they continue to support FDLR efforts to evade justice, propagate violence, abuse civilians, and illegally exploit DRC’s mineral wealth,” reads a statement from the US Department of State. The FDLR is currently fighting alongside the DR Congo government forces against the forces of Gen. Laurent Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). Both Murwanashyaka and Mbarushimana are currently in Germany from where they coordinate the activities of FDLR, a group that is largely composed of perpetrators of the 1994 Tutsi Genocide. Ends