Rwanda yet to pull out of African court, files for withdrawal

[Ngongo]

Rwanda yaogopa kuumbuka mahakama ya haki za binadamu Afrika yajiandaa kujitoa. Ikumbukwe Rwanda na baadhi ya nchi za Afrika zimekuwa zikiipinga mahakama ya ICC huko The Hegue kwa kisingizo kuwa inawaonea viongozi wa Afrika.

Katika hali ya kushangaza na kusikitisha Rwanda inahofia Mahakama ya haki za binadamu ya Afrika yenye makao makuu nchi Tanzania Mjini Arusha kwa kisingizio cha kitoto eti inaweza kutumiwa na watuhumiwa wa makosa ya mauaji ya Kimbari yaliyofanyika mwaka 1994.

Mahakama ya haki za binadamu ya Afrika ni kwaajili ya waafrika ajabu baada ya makahama za Rwanda kutoa hukumu za maonevu Mama Victorie Igambire kaamua kwenda kutafuta haki Mahakama ya Afrika ambako wadadisi wa mambo ya sheria wanadai angeishinda serekali ya Gen Kagame kirahisi sana kwakuwa maamuzi yake yaliegemea kumkwamisha Mama Igambire asigombee Urais wa Rwanda.

Ni wazi mahakama za nchi nyingi za Afrika bado zinategemea kutoa haki zake kwa kufuata matakwa ya watawala wenye silika ya udikteta,Rwanda ni mfano mmoja wapo.
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Rwanda has clarified that it is yet to pull out of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights but has filed a request for withdrawal over fears that genocidaires may “enjoy the benefits” of the Court.

The government said it was unhappy with a clause in the African Court Protocol that guarantees rights of access and hearing to any individual or NGOs, which according to Kigali, may pave way for genocide fugitives to drag the country to the Court.

“The way it was framed even a fugitive like Kabuga can go to court tomorrow and file a human-rights case against Rwanda,” Johnston Busingye, Minister of Justice told The EastAfrican on Monday. Felicien Kabuga is top Rwandan genocide fugitive wanted by the United Nations.

“We are still very much members of the Court…there is no cause for alarm,” Mr Busingye said, adding that it was by “coincidence” that the withdrawal request was undertaken at a time when the Arusha-based AfCHPR had summoned the government to a hearing of a case on March 3 filed by opposition leader Victoire Ingabire.

Ms Ingabire, 47, who heads the unregistered political party FDU Inkingi, had dragged the government to the African Court, accusing it of violating her rights and freedoms provided under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Rwanda deposited the instrument of withdrawal with the Office of the Legal Counsel, African Union Commission on February 29, 2016. The AUC transmitted the withdrawal officially to the Court on March 3,” said the Justice minister.

Ingabire is currently serving a 15-year in jail sentence handed to her by the Supreme Court in 2013, which found her guilty of inciting revolt, forming armed groups to destabilise the country, as well and denying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

She also hoped that the Court will force the Rwandan government to release her on parole as well as incur the cost of reparations.

“That lady (Ms Ingabire) herself had asked for adjournment for her own case much before. Our lawyers had written to Court to say they are not ready to proceed for a number of reasons,” Mr Busingye said.

Rwanda yet to pull out of African court, files for withdrawal

Nakala meningitis jMali GPTZ jingalao Katavi Tutafika .....

 

[mchambawima1]

The African Court of Human and People’s Rights has lost the extra jurisdiction to hear cases involving Rwanda after the government withdrew from the declaration that allows individuals or groups of individuals to file cases.

The decision to withdraw from the declaration was reached after a Genocide convict and fugitive secured a right to be heard under the guise of defending human rights of Rwandan citizens.

Sources close to the court , who preferred anonymity, told Saturday Times that the Genocide convict and fugitive in question is Stanley Safari.

In 2009, Safari, a former senator, was found guilty of multiple counts of Genocide-related charges by a Gacaca court in Huye and sentenced to life in prison.

He took flight a few days before his sentence was read, and an Interpol red notice was issued to facilitate his arrest.

Witnesses against Safari

According to several witnesses, including former militia who took part in killings during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Safari was involved in operations which exterminated 60 Tutsi at the National University of Rwanda, 600 Tutsi at Gateme in Tumba Sector, and other massacres at Rango in the then Butare town (now Huye district).

Shortly after he fled, Human Rights organisation Amnesty Internationl, turned down his application for protection on the basis that his claims are baseless.

A notification sent to the Court, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that in 2013, when Rwanda signed the declaration from which it has withdrawn, “it never envisaged that such a person (Genocide convict/fugitive) would ever seek or be granted a platform” based on the protocol.

Johnston Busingye, the minister for Justice, told Saturday Times that the court was informed of the gravity of crimes committed by Safari.

“Safari is known in Gikondo suburb of Kigali as a ruthless operator during the Genocide. He was convicted for Genocide. He was one of the master minds in Gikondo. We sent the judgment and informed the Court last year that we would take serious exception if Safari was allowed a platform in the African court because with Genocide Rwanda would not compromise,” he said.

The Minister added: “Our reason is that after a genocide fugitive successfully took advantage of the Declaration and gained direct access to the Court and claimed to be a protector of Rwandans ‘ rights under the African Charter, we decided to have the Declaration reviewed so that it reflects the actual intentions of its makers.”

“The Republic of Rwanda, in exercise of its sovereign prerogative, withdraws its declaration it made on the 22nd day of January 2013, accepting the jurisdiction of the African Court of Human and People’s Rights to receive cases under Article 5 (3) of the protocol and shall make it a fresh after comprehensive review,” concludes the notification sent to the court last month.

Rwanda is one of only seven countries that had signed up to the declaration which is a unilateral prerogative provided in the Protocol that is in the country’s power to sign up to.

Minister Busingye further emphasised that the ordinary jurisdiction of the Court is to resolve human rights disputes between a country and another which continues to exist and Rwanda fully subscribe to.

"The special optional and unilateral jurisdiction we gave the Court in the 2013 Declaration is to resolve human rights disputes between individuals, groups Vs the State.

This is the power we withdrew for review because we realised it was beginning to be abused by, of all people, genocide convicts and fugitives," Busingye said.

He added: "On genocide convicts and fugitives, we do not compromise. We expect that the Court cannot compromise its integrity by offering them a platform which they will use to launder themselves."

 

[Ngongo]

African Court faults Rwanda withdrawal
NA EDWARD QORRO
14th March 2016

B-pepe

Chapa

AfCHPR President Judge Augustino Ramadhani
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) has expressed concern over Rwanda’s decision to withdraw from a declaration that allows individuals or groups to file cases at the court.


The decision to withdraw from the declaration was reached after a genocide convict and fugitive secured the right to be heard under the guise of defending human rights of Rwandan citizens.

Speaking to The Guardian recently, AfCHPR President Judge Augustino Ramadhani said the court was concerned by the Rwandan government’s move and was mulling on delivering a position.

He said the court was determined to issue its position during the upcoming ruling of Ingabire Victorie Umuhoza versus the republic of Rwanda which is due to be delivered on March 18, this year.

Last week, representatives from the Rwandan government failed to show up during the hearing of the case at the AfCHPR, with the applicant fielding two advocates for the hearing.

“Based on what happened last week, we have already deliberated on the issue where we have drafted the first and second reading and we will definitely issue our position during the ruling next week,” revealed Justice Ramadhani.

A source close to the Arusha-based court refuted some media claims that claimed Rwanda had pulled out of the AfCHPR on the grounds that the country has its own competent courts to try all local cases involving human rights violations.

Rwanda had only withdrawn from article 34(6) on the ratification of the AfCHPR, said the source.

The treaty reads: “At the time of the ratification of this protocol or any time thereafter, the state shall make a declaration accepting the competence of the court to receive cases under article 5 (3) of this protocol. The court shall not receive any petition under article 5 (3) involving a state party which has not made such a declaration.”
According to the source, the court will continue hearing and deliberating on cases from Rwandese individuals filed at the court, but will not all receive any fresh applications from the country.

Ingabire, 47, who heads the unregistered political party FDU Inkingi, had dragged the government of Rwanda to the African Court, accusing it of violating her rights and freedoms provided under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

She also hoped that the court will force the Rwandan government to release her on parole as well as incur the cost of reparations.
She is currently serving a 15-year jail sentence handed to her by the Supreme Court of Rwanda in 2013, which found her guilty of inciting revolt, forming armed groups to destabilise the country and denying the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

In her application to the Arusha court, Ingabire requested the annulment of court decisions taken since her arrest in 2010 until the pronouncement of the last judgment in the Supreme Court that gave her a 15-year jail term.

A section of media recently quoted the head of legal services at the Ministry of Justice in Rwanda as saying that the country no longer saw the need to be part of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, arguing that the courts in Rwanda had built capacity over the years and have the competence and efficiency to handle all local cases.

Previously, the Kigali government dismissed Ingabire’s plea to the Arusha court, saying that it did not violate any of her rights and that she did not exhaust local remedies before approaching the AfCHPR .
CHANZO: THE GUARDIAN






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