Niger asks eight former dignitaries of the Rwandan Hutu regime, responsible for the 1994 genocide, to leave the country. An expulsion order was issued on Monday, December 27. It bears the signature of the Minister of the Interior, Hamadou Adamou Souley. An expulsion justified by “diplomatic reasons”, while these people had recently been received in the country.
They are eight to be expelled ” definitively ”Of Nigerien territory. They are permanently banned from staying in the country and have seven days to leave Niger. These eight former dignitaries of the Hutu regime, specifically concerned by this decision, are divided into two groups of four, explains Nadia Ben Mahfoudh of the Africa service of RFI.
There are those who have been acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR): a former high-ranking official, two former ministers, and Protais Zigiranyirazo, says “Mr. Z”. He is a brother ofAgathe Habyarimana, the former First Lady and pillar of the extremist fringe of the regime.
The four others, three military executives and the former prefect of Butare, had been convicted by the ICTR, and have already served their sentences.
Their stay in Niger was not long. The agreement allowing their arrival on the territory was signed between Niger and the United Nations on November 15. According to Young Africa, it is the dissatisfaction of Kigali which would be at the origin of this turnaround. But neither the Interior Ministry nor the UN responded to our requests.
If, for the moment, no indication has been given on their drop-off point, the Association des rescapés du 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Ibuka, demands their return to Rwandan soil.