Mr Kabuga says he is still ready to surrender despite ICTR ruling against the Rwandan Government

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no

Mr Félicien Kabuga has criticised the ICTR for what he calls “a behaviour of men who do not want to give traditional peace and reconciliation a chance.”

The Government of Rwanda in December last year applied to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to have some of the Genocide accused persons transferred by the court to be tried in Rwanda.

Now the ICTR has ruled that Rwanda’s judicial system cannot be trusted as yet even though the country has abolished the death sentence.

This now makes Mr. Félicien Kabuga’s case interesting. He is a wanted man who has volunteered to surrender to the same government that is seeking from the court to have a ruling transferring those accused to Rwanda.

Recently the Rwandan government was quoted saying they will not engage in talks with Mr Kabuga, a man who is ready for talks with the government becuase he wants to surrender to them. The move taken by the Tribunal may be to scare off Mr. Kabuga who wants to surrender by stating that the country is not able to allow the judiciary to enjoy independence without being interferred with by the government.

Mr Kabuga is still of the opinion that his country will give him a fair trial if an agreement through talks is reached in advance, before his surrender.

Mr Kabuga does not take serious the decision made by the court saying, this is coming now because they want to discourage him from surrendering. Mr Kabuga says he is still ready for talks and is happy that the Rwandese authorities have taken contact in order to find out the possibilities for the talks to take place without the interferrence of the ICTR.

ICTR’s objection to have some of the people transferred to Rwanda for trial to reduce the work load will be seen as a move by the Tribunal to prolong their own mandate past the stipulated time. This will also make it difficult for Rwanda to convince the International community that the country is ready to try those involved in genocide in a fair way.

On the Kabuga issue, it is difficult to understand why Rwandan authorities are using the back door to start the talks instead of making their stand clear to the outside world, that the country is really ready for the task – to try people fairly. There is no need to have secret talks or plans for talks while at the same time, publicly denying that contacts are being made in preparation for the talks in connection with Mr Kabuga’s surrender.

The government official has one worry. That the US may try to push the Government of Rwanda, threatening with sanctions aimed at forcing the country to hand over Mr kabuga  after his surrender.
UN tribunal rules out transfer of genocide cases to Rwanda

Judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) have ruled out the transfer of genocide cases and suspects to Rwanda on the grounds that the country is yet to provide sufficient conditions to guarantee a fair trial, a press statement from the United Nations-backed tribunal issued on Thursday says.

The judges were making a judgment to an earlier request by the ICTR chief prosecutor, Hassan Boubacar Jallow and the Rwandan government to transfer to Rwanda, Yussuf Munyakazi, a Rwandan businessman to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity he was suspected to have committed during the 1994 genocide.

The ruling is seen here as a landmark to the effect that it sets a precedent against a long standing request by the Rwandan government to receive and try genocide cases from the Arusha-based tribunal. In April, the court opened a hearing to determine whether Munyakazi’s case and others can eventually be transferred to the Rwandan judiciary.

“In the light of the past actions of the Rwandan government, the chamber is not convinced that Rwanda respects the independence of the judiciary,” the statement stating the tribunal’s decision reached on Wednesday says in part, adding that the chamber was not satisfied that the accused, if transferred to Rwanda at the present time, would receive a fair trial.

Following Rwanda’s July 2007 abolition of the death penalty, ICTR Chief Prosecutor Jallow filed requests for five accused, including Munyakazi, to be transferred to Rwandan courts.

In December, Kigali filed a memo to ICTR defending its judiciary as capable of delivering fair trials.

Since its creation in 1994, the special court has so far sentenced 30 Rwandans over the genocide and acquitted five.

Related Stories

• Rwandese Government seeks clarification on Kabuga’s request in readiness for talks
• Mr Félicien Kabuga to apply for political asylum in Norway if the Government of Rwanda chooses not to negotiate
• On Mr Kabuga: Letter to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, The Republic of Rwanda
• Kabuga’s surrender: A test for the Rwandese governmentFelicen Kabuga’s request to the Rwandese government will be channelled this week
• Rwandese businessman hunted by ICTR requests API to deliver a massage to Rwandese Government. “I am ready to negotiate for a supervised surrender on agreeable terms”, says Kabuga
• ready to talk: API would like to remind its readers that any person charged by any authority is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
• The freezing of assets by a Kenyan judge causes Felicen Kabuga to ask for talks with Rwandese government.
• Will Kabuga fight for his wealth?
• Kabuga met with the Sudanese in Oslo on the 6th of May.
• Rwandan government lauds Kenya for freezing of genocide fugitive’s assets
• Sudan Donor Conference in Norway on 5-7 May: Rwandese Fugitive Felicen Kabuga got a private audience with two Sudanese delegates
• Kabuga arrived in Norway on the 23rd of March this year after crossing the Swedish/Norway border in Svinesund by car.

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African Press International – api