Is the Netherlands a free haven for war criminals or a puppet in the hands of the Rwandan government? A question that is asked time and time again when a (former) Rwandan national is brought before a Dutch court on suspicion of involvement in the 1994 genocide.

 
“The Dutch justice system is blindly obeying the orders of the Rwandan government, without any clear investigation of their own. It’s no longer objectively defending human rights and that’s a worrying development,” comments Gloria Uwishema, spokeswoman for the interest group 'Réseau International des Femmes pour la Démocratie et la Paix' (International Women's Network for Democracy and Peace)
 
Ms Uwishema is one of the 200 protesters -both Rwandan and Dutch- who turned up at the district court in The Hague on Monday in support of Yvonne Ntacyobatabara.
 
Life imprisonment
Ms Ntacyobatabara was arrested last June and charged with involvement in the Rwandan genocide, war crimes and hate incitement. The Public Prosecutor suspects she was involved in a Hutu extremist organisation which killed Tutsis and moderate Hutus. She denies all charges. Her lawyer has repeatedly accused the Netherlands of ‘being used by the Rwandan regime’.
 
Yvonne Ntacyobatabara appears on a list of 16 alleged genocide perpetrators that the ruling RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by President Paul Kagame) gave to the Dutch authorities a few months ago. Previously, a local gacaca court sentenced her to life imprisonment. Ms Ntacyobatabara had already left Rwanda at the time of the verdict and never served time.
 
Decoy
According to Gloria Uwishema, the list is nothing but a decoy. “The RPF is systematically trying to cut out political opponents or people who are critical of the regime. The people on this list all happen to be Rwandan intellectuals, some of who support Victoire Ingabire, who wanted to run for last August’s presidential elections but was arrested and later banned from participating.”
 

Prioritising prosecution

The Dutch Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice said they could not comment on the individual case of Yvonne Ntacyobatabara as long as investigations were ongoing.

In more general terms, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry stated "the Netherlands gives priority to bringing to court and prosecuting [people suspected of] international crimes. It is only normal that the Netherlands should cooperate in the prosecution of people suspected of war crimes committed in Rwanda, which count among the most serious crimes against international law in the latter half of the 20th century."

The Foreign Ministry denies any accusation of partiality. "Rwanda has been a Dutch development aid beneficiary for a long time. The two countries have a good working relationship. However, the Netherlands has never shunned criticism and is prepared to take action when necessary. One notable example was the suspension of aid to Rwanda after a UN report accused Rwanda of being involved in the conflict in eastern DR Congo."

Dutch Genocide bill
Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hisch Ballin recently submitted a ‘genocide bill’ to parliament which would make it easier to prosecute suspected international war criminals. It would also counter criticism that Dutch legislation is attracting scores of people with a dubious past to settle in the Netherlands.
 
During Monday’s hearing, the court ruled that Yvonne Ntacyobatabara, who has been living in the Netherlands since 1998 and was granted Dutch citizenship in 2004, needs to remain in custody as long as the investigations are ongoing. The testimonies of at least 37 people in Rwanda, France, Canada and the Netherlands have already been gathered in this case.
 
Jurisdiction
Ms Ntacyobatabara is the second person to appear before a Dutch court on charges of crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide. In March 2009 a court in The Hague sentenced Joseph Mpambara to 20 years in jail for torture commited during the genocide.