Fifteen years after the Rwandan genocide, the situation regarding a dozen Rwandan suspects living in France remains deadlocked.

By Franck Petit, Paris

French courts refused to transfer suspected génocidaires to Rwanda following various rulings that suspects could not be guaranteed a fair trial.

As well as this Rwanda will not allow French officials to carry out investigations over there. Diplomatic relations between the two countries soured after a French judge implicated President Paul Kagame in the assassination of former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana.

Habyarimana’s widow now lives in France. But on October 16th the country’s highest legal authority refused to grant her asylum, saying that “presumptions exist” regarding her involvement in the massacres

Agathe Habyarimana could, therefore, be deported to Rwanda, or she could be tried in France under the principle of universal jurisdiction, if a judicial inquiry launched against her last year so decides.

At the same time, a hospital in Northern France recently suspended medical doctor Eugene Rwamucyo after discovering he was wanted by Interpol in connection with the genocide.

But Rwamucyo is also unlikely to be extradited or tried anytime soon. At least not until relations between Paris and Kigali improve.

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