Rwanda’s parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life without parole, a move that officials hope will clear the way for suspects in the nation’s 1994 genocide to be extradited back to Rwanda for trial. Many of the suspects are believed to be at large in Europe, North America, and West Africa, regions where many countries refuse to extradite criminal suspects to nations that continue to practice capital punishment or torture. Rwandan genocide survivors welcomed the decision, noting that capital punishment existed in the country’s law prior to the violence of 1994 and did not deter the crimes from taking place.

(The Monitor - Kampala, June 10, 2007). See International Death Penalty.