The Justice Minister of Rwanda, Tharcisse Karugarama, announced that the country will likely pass a law by December 2006 ending capital punishment. This move would allow Rwanda to try suspects charged with atrocities in the 1994 war who are currently in countries that refuse to extradite prisoners if they face the death penalty. Karugarama said that abolition was necessary in order to achieve a sense of closure. Unless the country abolishes the death penalty, countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland will not extradite suspects to be tried in Rwanda’s national courts. Only the U.S. has extradited a suspect to Rwanda. Suspects held under United Nations auspices also cannot be sent to Rwanda if the death penalty is to be sought.
(The East African (Nairobi), on AllAfrica.com, Sept. 5, 2006). See International.
