Eight Rwandans tried for genocide to be sent to Tanzania, UN judge orders
A United Nation judge has ordered that eight former members of the Hutu government in power in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide be sent to Tanzania from Niger after the later refused to host them.
Niger has been hosting the Rwandans since December 5 under an agreement concluded with the UN.
Judge Joseph Chiondo Masanche ordered for “all necessary measures” to be taken to send the eight to Tanzania until they could be transferred somewhere else.
The judge also ordered Niger to provide all necessary assistance in order to execute the terms of the decision.
Four of the eight Rwandans were acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and international court established by the UN to judge those accused of being responsible for the genocide.
The four others served sentences handed down to them by the tribunal.
In December last year, Niger decided to expel them; however, the UN ordered Niger to “suspend” its decision.
Niger’s government announced the expulsions after the Rwandans were officially welcomed in the capital Niamey citing “diplomatic reasons”.
The Rwandans’ lawyers had argued that Niger had committed to host the group, after they answered before the international criminal tribunal for their roles in the genocide.
However, a Rwandan umbrella group of genocide survivor organizations had welcomed the expulsions.
Around 800,000 people died between April and July 1994 in Rwanda as the extremist Hutu regime tried to wipe out the Tutsi minority, causing one of the 20th century’s biggest massacres.
