Barayagwiza would not face death penalty

Rwanda is prepared to provide the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) with “legally-binding assurances” that the death penalty would not be carried out against genocide suspect Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza if he were tried and found guilty in Rwandan courts, an ICTR spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman, Kingsley Moghalu, said the Rwandan pledge was made on Friday in a government request to appear before the ICTR appeals chamber to present its views on the Barayagwiza case. The appeals chamber on 3 November ordered that Barayagwiza be set free on procedural grounds and returned to Cameroon where he was initially arrested. Rwanda is seeking to have Barayagwiza delivered into its custody, or alternatively released in Tanzania where the ICTR is based.

Meanwhile, the ICTR’s newly-appointed chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, was scheduled to arrive in Arusha on Tuesday for her first visit to the UN tribunal, Moghalu said. Del Ponte had planned to visit Kigali this week but Rwanda refused to give her an entry visit in protest over the Barayagwiza decision.