The central question of the transfer of Félicien Kabuga to international justice

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The investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal must decide this Wednesday, June 3, whether or not to transfer Félicien Kabuga to the Mechanism responsible for trying the last Rwandans indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) . Prosecuted on seven counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, Félicien Kabuga was arrested on May 16 in the Paris suburbs.  

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This is just one step in the Kabuga case. The investigating chamber should give the green light to the surrender of the accused to the Mechanism . His lawyers could then appeal to the Court of Cassation. The judges will have two months to confirm the surrender decision. After which, Félicien Kabuga will have to be transferred within thirty days to Arusha, in Tanzania, or even in The Hague, in the Netherlands if the pandemic were to prevent him from traveling outside Europe. 

But his lawyers say that "  the genocide financier  " is too old and too sick to be able to move to another country. And in a letter dated June 2, Master Laurent Bayon asked the prosecutor of the Mechanism to divest in favor of France, reports our correspondent in The Hague, Stéphanie Maupas .   

However, the Mechanism must try "  the highest leaders suspected of bearing the heaviest responsibility  " in the genocide. This is the case of Félicien Kabuga. Impossible therefore ... Unless the UN Security Council amends the status of the Mechanism, said prosecutor Serge Brammertz in an interview by phone shortly after the arrest.

The prosecutor can not therefore divest himself either in favor of France or even in favor of Rwanda as claimed by his side the main association of survivors, Ibuka. In the past, Kigali had fought for the files of the ICTR. 

Long-awaited decision in Rwanda

In Rwanda precisely, this decision will be followed closely and in the first place by the victims of the genocide. Many experienced the announcement of the arrest of Félicien Kabuga as a deliverance, a step towards long-awaited justice, 26 years after the facts, said our correspondent in Kigali, Laure Broulard . 

If French justice decides to transfer Félicien Kabuga, he should normally be tried in Arusha. He wants to be tried in France. The victims, however, would like him to be tried in Rwanda. Ibuka recently sent a letter to this effect to international justice, putting forward several arguments, such as the reforms of the Rwandan justice system to try this type of crime in accordance with international law or the fact that several genocidaires prosecuted by the Mechanism have already been tried in Rwanda.

Ibuka seems in any case to oppose a trial in France, since the association denounces unsatisfactory results in other cases of this type, as in the case of Wenceslas Munyeshyaka , a Rwandan cleric suspected of the crime of genocide and who benefited from a dismissal.

For their part, the authorities have remained fairly silent since the arrest of Félicien Kabuga. No reaction from the presidency or the Ministry of Justice ... Only the attorney general's office welcomed his arrest, and so far he has not issued a request for transfer to Rwanda. As for the unit for tracking down fugitives accused of genocide, which has worked in collaboration with international justice, we are relying on Mechanism prosecutors, who will be responsible for trying to prove the guilt of the alleged financier of the genocide. 

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• Rwanda
• International justice
• France

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