The Pan-African Parliament has called on African Heads of State to join efforts in condemning and denouncing the recent indictments of Rwandan military officers by some foreign judges. The parliament’s resolution was a result of a motion tabled by Rwandan Senate Vice-President, Prosper Higiro, and seconded by Kenyan lawmaker, Gitobu Imanyara, and Lassane Sawadogo from Burkina Faso. The Pan-African Parliament session took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. (The Pan-African Parliament) urges the African Union Heads of State to add their voice in denouncing the attempt on the part of these judges at derogating on the well-established international standards of natural justice and self determination within a sovereign State, reads a resolution by the continental parliament. Two foreign judges from France and Spain have issued indictments against several senior officers of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) – formerly the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA). The parliamentarians called the indictments a blatant affront to the sovereignty of an African Union member state, urging the African Commission to comprehensively study the subject and come up with appropriate mechanisms to safeguard sovereignty of member states. This will safeguard member states from the consequences of undue abuse and misinterpretation of principles of international law by some states for political gain, reads the statement signed on May 12. The Pan-African Parliament is dismayed by the recent surge in incidences of such fragrant abuse of international law principles. This is evident in the form of indictments issued by a French Judge – Jean Louis Bruguière and more recently, a Spanish Judge – Andreu Fernando Merrelles, against some forty civil and military leaders of the Republic of Rwanda, continues the statement. The resolution follows in the same vein as one passed last month by African Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General. The ministers resolved that the indictments were an abuse of the principle of universal jurisdiction. They concluded that such incidences were an insult to the sovereignty of African states and a sign of arrogance by these foreign Judges and their backers which, they said, should be resisted. The indictments issued by both judges have been widely condemned by both the Government of Rwanda and some members of the international community saying they were not based on facts. It has been widely said that both judges are cohorts with elements of the Genocidal forces with an aim of denying the 1994 Genocide that left over one million Rwandans dead.Ends
