The Republic of Niger has expelled eight Rwandans who were transferred by the UN Court which tried them for Genocide related crimes.
The men were convicted of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi and had completed their sentences or were acquitted.
According to a statement released on December 27, 2021, the Niger Ministry of Interior and Decentralization ordered the men to leave the country within seven days.
The ex-convicts are Protais Zigiranyirazo, Francois Nzuwonemeye, Innocent Sagahutu, Alphonse Nteziryayo, Tharcisse Muvunyi, André Ntagerura, Anatole Nsengiyumva and Prosper Mugiraneza.
The men are widely considered to be among the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
After the conclusion of their cases, they remained in Arusha, Tanzania where the UN court was based.
The expulsion comes after an inquiry made by the government of Rwanda to the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) seeking clarification about circumstances under which the eight were transferred to Niger.
While addressing a UN Security Council meeting in New York in early December, Valentine Rugwabiza, Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said that Rwanda had not been informed by either the MICT or the host country about the transfer of these Rwandan nationals.
She then pointed out that there is evidence that some of these individuals, after their acquittal by the former ICTR, have been engaging in subversive activities that contributed to the insecurity and instability of the Great Lakes Region for the past decades.
The individuals in question had for long been stuck in Arusha, the former seat of the ICTR, after many countries had refused to take them in, including those hosting their families.
However, Rwanda previously said they may come back home to their country if they so wish.
