The manner in which the French justice system is handling the trial of a Genocide suspect, Hyacinthe Rafiki Nsengiyumva, has angered civil society and human rights groups.The cause of their wrath is the fact that a case file for an extradition request from Rwanda mysteriously disappeared from French courts late last year. As a result, the extradition proceedings have stalled. A French court this week suspended judicial control over the fugitive accused of playing an active role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, especially in his home region of Gisenyi (now Rubavu District).According to Alain Gauthier, head of the France-based civic group, Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR), the disappearance became public during a January 11 hearing in the chambre dinstruction of the Paris appeals court. “The hearing was then postponed to February 22 with the hope that they either locate it or reconstitute it from copies of documents. Not a chance: the file was not found and the chancery has since forwarded to the Prosecutor General uncertified copies without any legal value,” Gauthier told The New Times in an email message.“The CPCR and Survie – another French lobby group – are outraged that a file of an alleged génocidaire can get lost in the maze of French justice,” he added.The two groups are surprised by what they say is ‘indifference’ with which the investigating chamber of the Court of Appeal of Paris handled the disappearance. “This attitude is hardly understandable given the seriousness of the charges; the alleged involvement of Mr. Nsengiyumva in the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda,” added Gauthier.According to the activist, it was then suggested that Rwanda be requested to send another extradition file.Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga, Friday confirmed that another extradition file has been sent. “We have already done another request for extradition because we are looking at the larger picture. We just can’t disentangle the loss of such an important case from the general attitude of French justice on Rwanda genocide cases,” he said.“More disturbing is the simplistic way the matter was handled. No investigation was carried out on how the case file went missing. A simple apology isn’t just enough. There is a need for us to review in general how to deal with cases in France in an environment that is clearly not supportive enough.”‘Not first time’Nsengiyumva, who was Minister of Public Works during the Genocide, was arrested in August 2011, in Créteil – a commune in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, France, and later placed under judicial control.Rwanda issued an international arrest warrant for him in 2008. Nsengiyumva, a founder member of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) militia, allegedly actively participated in the mass killings.He also allegedly often participated in Genocide preparatory meetings alongside Col. Theoneste Bagosora.The CPCR says Nsengiyumva supplied weapons to killers and formed an extremist militia allied to PSD party, Abakombozi, and was purportedly responsible for the slaughter of Tutsi refugees who had fled to Nyundo church, a few kilometres from Gisenyi town.The French group notes that it is not the first time French courts treat such cases of extradition of Rwanda Genocide suspects in an unusual manner.They highlight the examples of a court in Bordeaux which refused to extradite Sosthene Munyemana, nicknamed the butcher of Tumba and Dr Eugene Rwamucyo, suspected of involvement in the Genocide in Butare, southern Rwanda. Another case is that of Agathe Kanziga, widow of former President Juvenale Habyarimana, who continues to reside in France illegally. She’s also accused of genocide.Manasse Bigwenzare, a former judge suspected of participating in the planning of the Genocide, was arrested last year at his home in the Val dOise area of Paris, but released immediately after.
