Bernard Ntuyahaga
A Beligian court has set all requirements to extradite to Rwanda Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, a senior officer in the government that carried out the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. Ntuyahaga will be extradited to Rwanda this Friday.
Ntuyahaga has been serving 25 year jail sentence for having killed the 10 Belgian peacekeepers during the Genocide.
He concluded the sentence in June 2018, and, despite appeal by his lawyers and his family in Sweden to have Belgium stop the extradition, Ntuyahaga will fly to Kigali on Friday, December 21, 2018 to celebrate New Year in Rwanda.
The appeals that wanted to block Ntuyahaga’s extradition argued that ‘His coming to Rwanda is synonym to being given a death penalty,’ but Belgium court took the extradition decision after assurance from Rwanda, that he (Ntuyahaga) would be reintegrated in the community like any other repatriated citizen.
Jonhston Busignye, Minister of Justice and Attorney General confirmed Rwanda’s stand on Wednesday.
“Ntuyahaga is a citizen of Rwanda. He will be re-integrated as a citizen, all rights he is entitled to under the law will be respected,”Busingye told KT Press.
“Thousands of ex-convicts, Ex Far/ FDLR returnees have been repatriated and successfully reintegrated and are now full participants in the country’s life. Ntuyahaga is an ex-convict and Ex far just like any of those thousands of our countrymen.”
Busingye further said that; “There is sufficient expertise and experience to ensure his successful reintegration.”
