One of the 8 Rwandans transferred to Niger by the UN mechanism in charge of the last cases of the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) died in Niamey, at the end of last week. These 8 people were acquitted or released by the ICTR after serving their sentence. After spending several years in Tanzania waiting for the United Nations to find them a host country, they arrived in Niger at the end of 2021. But their lawyers denounce their living conditions in Niamey and ask that they be allowed to rejoin their families.
The 70-year-old man died in Niamey at the end of last week, without being able to join his relatives abroad. Sentenced for incitement to genocide, for his role in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, he served his sentence, explains his lawyer.
But since his arrival in Niger at the end of 2021, he had been living in a residence in Niamey under police control, with the 7 other people transferred following an agreement signed between Niger and the UN mechanism responsible for the latest ICTR cases,
without identity papers and without being free to move. “ They are in Niamey like in prison explains their lawyer, Maitre Kadidiatou Hamadou.
Antoine Mukiza, whose elderly father is in Niamey, says he is in shock and very worried. He appeals to the highest authorities of Niger so that his father, like the 6 others, can find their families.
For the Nigerien Minister of Foreign Affairs, the situation depends on the UN mechanism. Niger is waiting for another land to be found for them, explains Hassoumi Massoudou, but several countries have already refused to welcome them