JURIST - Paper Chase: Germany detains Rwanda presidential aide for 1994 assassination

[JURIST] German officials on Sunday arrested an aide to [KBC report] Rwandan President Paul Kagame [official website] in connection with the 1994 assassination of then-president Juvenal Habyarima [NYT report] that touched off the infamous Rwanda genocide [HRW backgrounder]. Rose Kabuye [advocacy profile], an official in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) [HRW profile], was arrested under a European warrant issued by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere [BBC profile] in 2006. German officials said that because Kabuye entered the country on personal business, she was not protected by her diplomatic status that had previously prevented her arrest. Rwandan officials have condemned [AP report] Kabuye's arrest, accusing France of issuing the warrant for political reasons. BBC News has more. AFP has additional coverage.

In October, German authorities transferred [JURIST report] Augustin Ngirabatware, a former Rwandan minister suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwanda genocide [BBC backgrounder], from a facility in Frankfurt to a UN detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania where he faces trial by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website]. In July, German border police arrested [press release; JURIST report] Rwandan war crimes suspect Callixte Mbarushiman as he was preparing to travel to Russia. In recent months, Rwanda has unsuccessfully sought [JURIST report] to have some of those indicted by the ICTR transferred to Rwanda to face trial by domestic courts.

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