Mathias Bushishi, one of five Rwandans being prosecuted by Belgian authorities for alleged participation in the Rwandan genocide, was released on bail earlier this month. He is the fourth defendant to be conditionally set-free.

According to prosecutors, there is enough evidence to keep them in custody. However, “due to [the] slow development of investigations into such complex cases, judges have ordered [the] release of the suspects to avoid violations of defense rights,” reports Hirondelle News Agency.

Under the principal of universal jurisdiction, where national prosecutors can try alleged perpetrators of grave crimes committed anywhere in the world, Belgian authorities decided to prosecute the Rwandans in 2009. Mathias Bushishi, a 72-year-old former prosecutor in Butare, Rwanda, was released on 17 February after spending ten months in prison over suspicion that he participated in the 1994 genocide.

Former Col. Jean Marie Vianney Ndahimana and Emmanuel Nkunzuwimye were released on 01 February, with Ernest Gakwaya following him out the prison door the next day. All three are charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The fifth suspect--Fabien Neretse, a former senior official--remains in custody while waiting for a decision on the prosecutor’s appeal against his release.
“I don’t understand why investigations have been going on for four years and I was never informed of anything until the police showed up in my house and kept me for 10 months,” Emmanuel Nkunduwimye told RNW.

The men were ordered to pay between 5,000 and 7,500 euro bail. “They do not have the right to leave Belgium and must submit to regular judicial review as investigations continue,” defence lawyer Laurent Kennes said.

Up until now, it is unusual that International courts respect provisional release. The worst offender in this respect is the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR] in Arusha which has detained 20 of its suspects for more than 10 years. As for the International Criminal Court [ICC], Thomas Lubanga has been kept in detention 7 years prior to judgment.

Since 2001, four trials have taken place in Belgium, the only country to have conducted so many cases based on Universal Jurisdiction. The five men won’t be tried until at least 2013.