17.08.07 - ICTR/BAGARAGAZA - THE ICTR REVOKES THE TRANSFER OF BAGARAGAZA TO THE NETHERLANDS

Michel Bagaragaza was managing director of the organisation controlling the tea industry in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994.
 
"The chamber revokes the order of 13 April 2007 referring the case to the authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands", indicates the English decision which a copy was given to the Hirondelle news agency.
 
At the same time as this decision, the chamber issued a new warrant of arrest of Bagaragaza, currently being held in the Netherlands.
 
"The chamber respectfully requests the authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to arrest and transfer the accused to the tribunal ", indicates this arrest warrant.
 
The judges also asked the Dutch authorities "to notify the registrar of the tribunal of the arrest of the accused (and) to surrender the accused to the tribunal without delay ".
 
The decision "orders that Michel Bagaragaza be delivered into the custody of the tribunal's detention facility upon his transfer to the seat of the tribunal, in Arusha, Tanzania".
 
The cancellation of the transfer of Bagaragaza had been requested by the ICTR prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, in a motion dated 8 August.
 
Jallow had filed this motion on the advice of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and National Public Prosecutor's Office, which were pessimistic as for the possibilities of having this defendant tried by a Dutch court.
 
The cancellation of the decision to transfer the accused comes as the duration of the provisional detention of Bagaragaza in the Netherlands is to expire Monday. The Hague had indicated that it could be seen in the obligation to release him or to try him although its courts do not have jurisdiction.
 
Bagaragaza, a close acquaintance of former President Juvénal Habyarimana, is accused of having contributed to creating, financing, training and arming the Interahamwe militia, responsible for the 1994 massacres.
 
In the case concerning another Rwandan accused of genocide, Joseph Mpambara, the Court of the district of The Hague declared, in a judgment rendered on 24 July, it did not have jurisdiction.
 
A first request by the prosecutor aiming at transferring the Bagaragaza case to Norwegian courts had been rejected by the ICTR judges.
 
Bagaragaza, who fears for his safety because he has testified against other ICTR accused, has been held in The Hague since his surrender in 2005 within the framework of an agreement made with the prosecutor.
 
The transfers of accused to national courts form part of "the completion strategy" of the ICTR.
 
The ICTR, which the UN Security Council has asked to finish its first instance trials by the end of 2008, must, to respect this deadline, transfer certain cases to national courts.
 
ER/MM/AT
© Hirondelle News Agency