Rwanda

The District Court of The Hague denied an extradition request from the Rwandan authorities for the wanted person’s involvement in the genocide against the Tutsis. In reaching this decision, the Court stated that there are objectively justified doubts about the judicial independence in Rwanda regarding trials of political opponents of the current regime. The Court determined that in view of his active membership of FDU-Inkingi, an opposition party in Rwanda, the wanted person can be regarded as a political opponent. In addition, he is a former high-ranking soldier and remained of interest to the Rwandan government after his emigration to the Netherlands. In the view of the Court, these circumstances create a real risk that in the event of extradition the wanted person will have to deal with political interference in his trial and therefore the right to a fair trial cannot be guaranteed." This summary and the document have been sourced from the National jurisprudence database on core international crimes (NJD) of the European Network for investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (Genocide Prosecution Network).

The requested person, a Rwandan national who had lived in Norway as a refugee since 1999 with his wife and three children, was sought by Rwanda for prosecution on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in 1994. The Supreme Court considered whether extradition would conflict with fundamental humanitarian considerations, having regard in particular to Article 8 ECHR and the best interests of the children under the Norwegian Constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It held that, although the children’s interests weighed against extradition, the proportionality assessment had to take account of the exceptional gravity of the alleged offences, the interest in prosecuting serious crimes in the State where they were committed, and the importance of international criminal justice cooperation. The Court therefore found no grounds for giving the children’s interests absolute priority and concluded that fundamental humanitarian considerations did not prevent extradition to Rwanda.