According to a press statement issued the same day, the handing over ceremony took place in Kigali, being the seventh case to be referred to Rwanda for trial.
Other cases sent to Rwanda involve detainee Pastor Jean Uwinkindi and five fugitives, including three mayors, Charles Sikubwabo, Ladislas Ntaganzwa and Aloys Ndimbati, communal police official Fulgence Kayishema and restaurant manager Charles Ryandikayo
There is another case involving Bernard Munyagishari, also a detainee, which is pending on appeal at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and its deliberation has been delayed for some months due to the problem of language translation from English to French, a language understood by the defendant.
Munyarugarama, who was Commander of Gako military Camp in Kanzenze commune, Bugesera region of Kigali rural prefecture between early 1993 and May 1994, is charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity.
On June 28, 2012, a Referral Chamber ordered the case for Munyarugarama, who held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Rwandan army, to be transferred to Rwanda for trial. The decision was confirmed on appeal on October 5, 2012.
The handing over of the file was part of a three-day international workshop program organized by Prosecutor Jallow on prosecution of sexual and gender based violence crimes. The workshop, which started on November 26, 2012, was attended by several participants.
Among them was President of ICTR, Judge Vagn Joensen, national and international prosecutors, judges, defence counsel and other experts in the field from the Great Lakes region.
FK/NI