The Referral Chamber of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) On 8 May 2012, granted Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow’s application for the referral of the case of The Prosecutor v. Ladislas Ntaganzwa, Case No. 9609-R11bis, to the Republic of Rwanda for trial.
That decision became final yesterday when the time for appeal expired.
Earlier today, in compliance with the Referral Chamber’s order, Prosecutor Jallow officially handed over the material supporting the Indictment against the Accused and other relevant evidence contained in his case file to Alphonse Hitiyaremye, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Rwanda.
The Indictment charges the Accused, who was the former mayor of Nyakizu commune in Butare, with genocide; direct and public incitement to commit genocide; and extermination, murder, and rape as crimes against humanity.
The handover ceremony took place at the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania. It marked the completion of a week-long official mission of senior Rwandan prosecutors to the ICTR that was led by Deputy Prosecutor General Hitiyaremye.
During the ceremony, Deputy Prosecutor General Hitiyaremye thanked Prosecutor Jallow for his efforts in securing the referral of this case to Rwanda for trial. He noted that this was the fourth case to be successfully referred to Rwanda in recent months.
“Your Excellency Justice Jallow and your team, this great achievement by the OTP has brought legal changes and will go in the history of this tribunal as precedent for other national jurisdictions to refer to when taking similar decisions to extradite Rwandan genocide fugitives living a round the world.
Rwanda has already issued 138 indictments and arrest warrants against genocide fugitives living in 23 countries and with the already taken decisions by this tribunal; we expect extradition decisions in our favour in the near future. “
Prosecutor Jallow expressed his confidence that the responsible Rwandan officials would ensure the fair trial rights of the Accused in this case and the other ICTR cases that have been referred.
“The successful referral of this and other cases to Rwanda is an important step in the ICTR’s completion strategy and helps ensure that those responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda do not escape with impunity.”
Prosecutor Jallow further noted that, as part of its order, the Referral Chamber has issued a Warrant of Arrest and Order for Transfer of the Accused to the custody of Rwanda.
He called upon all States that are members of the United Nations to lend their continued support to Rwanda’s efforts to apprehend the Accused in this case, as well as the fugitives in the two other cases (Charles Sikubwabo and Fulgence Kayishema) that have been referred to Rwanda for trial.
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