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September 28, 2011


France Won't Extradite Rwandan Ex-First Lady



PARIS (AP) — France must not extradite the widow of Rwanda's former president, who has been sought by Rwandan prosecutors in connection with the African country's 1994 genocide, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of Juvenal Habyarimana, has been sought by the Rwandan state prosecutor since 2009 on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Paris court's reasoning for the decision was not immediately available, but it is binding on French Prime Minister Francois Fillon. Rwanda could still make a second request, but an extradition now appears unlikely.

Rwanda's genocide erupted after an airplane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down as near the capital, Kigali. French investigators have been looking into the case because the plane's crew was French.

Some 500,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis but also moderate Hutus, were massacred by radical Hutus in under 100 days. The massacres ended when Tutsi-led rebels under current President Paul Kagame defeated the Hutu extremists in July 1994.

The head of the Rwandan government's National Commission for the Fight against Genocide — in which Kagame is a member — last year claimed Agathe Habyarimana was the "main architect" of the genocide.

Following the request by Rwandan authorities two years ago, French police detained Habyarimana last year, but she was released on condition that she stay in France and check in regularly with police.

At the courthouse, Habyarimana said she was "delighted" with the decision and alleged that Rwandan authorities today were after her "because they know they killed my husband." Asked whether President Kagame himself was to blame, she didn't answer and simply looked at her lawyer.

"What I really would like is for the truth to come out on this assassination. Those who downed the airplane of the President Habyarimana and his counterparts from Burundi must be identified," she said. Cyprien Ntaryamira, president of neighboring Burundi, was among those killed.

Agathe Habyarimana — a Hutu like her husband — was helped out of Rwanda by French forces on April 9, 1994, and lived in what was then known as Zaire, now called Congo, before moving to France.

In 2004, France rejected her request for political asylum, alleging she was at the heart of the regime responsible for the genocide. Two years ago, a French court denied her appeal, arguing she had de facto authority in state affairs and rejecting as not credible her claims that she had no power.

French investigators are conducting a probe of seven Kagame allies for their suspected roles in the downing of the plane — which has been a thorn in bilateral ties between France and Rwanda.

A Rwandan government investigation released in January suggested the plane was shot down by Habyarimana's own allies, as an excuse for starting the genocide.

Five years ago, the delivery of arrest warrants for people close to Kagame by a now-retired French anti-terrorism magistrate led to a break in diplomatic ties between France and Rwanda — re-established only in 2009.

Kagame conducted a state visit to France earlier this month, aimed in part at reviving bilateral ties. French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Kigali last year — the first visit to Rwanda by a French leader in 25 years. [/b]

Nowhere to stay?
The nowhere-to-go phenomenon arises when a person accused of international crimes remains free in his own country, yet avoids travel for fear of arrest abroad. It's a phenomenon said at various times to have constrained any number of figures, from Muammar Gaddafi to Henry Kissinger.
A twist on the theme is playing out now in the administrative courts of France.
Call it the nowhere-to-stay scenario.
The figure at issue is Agathe Habyarimana (left). She's the widow of the President of Rwanda whose death in 1994 -- in a plane crash that also killed his Burundian counterpart -- helped touch off genocide in Rwanda. (credit for file photo depicting her at center)
Since then Habyarimana's been living for the most part in France, but without regularized status. She's twice sought a carte de séjour, a French residence permit; her 2d attempt is now pending before a court in Versailles.
The prefecture's denied her request, asserting that the 69-year-old widow is a "menace à l'ordre public," or "threat to the public order." The claim's based on Rwanda's longstanding warrant for her arrest, which contends that she was complicit in the 1994 genocide. As detailed in this Guardian article, she's alleged to have played "a central role in political decisions during the first days of the genocide."
To date France has not complied with a Rwandan request for her extradition.
A 2007 partie civile suit against her remains pending in France but has not yet resulted in charges.
And France has not regularized her status, either.
The tribunal's decision on her latest request for residency status is expected on September 20.


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