European court approves transfer of Genocide suspect to Arusha

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Thursday approved the transfer of a Genocide suspect arrested in France to face trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Dominique Ntawukuriryayo, a former deputy Governor in the southern town of Butare, was arrested in October last year in Carcassonne in France. He had been on the most wanted list of the ICTR, and was arrested with the help of Interpol. Ntawukuriryayo had lost two previous appeals in French courts and his last recourse lay with the ECHR. The court ruled that the suspect should be transferred to the ICTR by latest June 7. He is accused of causing the deaths of over 25,000 Tutsis who had taken refuge at Kabuye hill in Gisagara district. Ntawukuriryayo allegedly surrounded the hill with soldiers and militiamen and opened fire indiscriminately. In trying to fight the transfer, his lawyer, Thierry Massis, had argued that since trials at the ICTR were nearing completion, his client might be transferred to Rwanda where he would not be guaranteed a fair trial. The ECHR threw out the petition saying the defence’s assumptions had neither merit nor proof. The Statutes of the ICTR state that the tribunal can transfer some of its cases to national jurisdictions on request, Rwanda included. So far no one else, apart from Kigali, has showed willingness to accept any trials that might remain when the tribunal winds up its trials at the end of the year. Dominique Ntawukuriryayo is the third suspect to be transferred to the Arusha-based tribunal from France. In March 2000, Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, the former Minister of Culture and Education in the genocidal government was transferred for trial at the ICTR. Two months later, the former Commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion in Kigali, Major Francois Xavier Nzuwonemye followed suit. Kamuhanda was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison while Maj. Nzuwonemeye’s trial is still going on. Ends

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European court approves transfer of Genocide suspect to Arusha