Court refuses extradition of suspect in genocide

France cannot extradite Rwanda’s former first lady to her homeland, where she is sought in connection with the African country’s 1994 genocide, a Paris appeals court has ruled.

Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the late Rwandan president 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. Rwanda could make a second request, but an extradition now appears unlikely.

Rwanda’s genocide erupted after an aircraft carrying president Habyarimana was shot down near the capital, Kigali. French investigators have been looking into the case because the plane’s crew were French.

Some 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis but also moderate Hutus, were massacred by radical Hutus in less than 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, of 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 the condition that she stayed in France.

At the courthouse, Habyarimana said she was “delighted” with the decision and alleged that Rwandan authorities were after her “because they know they killed my husband”.

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

Agathe Habyarimana, a Hutu like her husband, was helped out of Rwanda by French forces in 1994, and lived in 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.

Rwanda’s prosecutor general Martin Ngoga said the decision did not surprise the government because Rwanda has never succeeded in any attempt to extradite suspects from France.

“The decision not to extradite Mrs Agathe Habyarimana is disappointing, but we will not relent in our efforts to bring genocide suspects to justice,” he said.

“We expect French counterparts to explore other available options, including having Mrs Habyarimana tried for genocide in France – an option that Rwanda does not object to.”

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