February 29, Rwanda informed the African Union of its decision to withdraw from one of the options provided for referral to the African Court on Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), based in Arusha, Tanzania.
Article 5 (3) of the Protocol governing this continental jurisdiction – so far only ratified by seven states – provides that NGOs and individuals to grasp.
For the Rwandan opposition in exile, this withdrawal could only refer to the opponent Victoire Ingabire , who is serving a sentence in Rwanda fifteen years in prison for various crimes and who launched a procedure against Kigali. But according to the entourage of Paul Kagame, the straw that broke the camel relates Stanley Safari, a former senator convicted in absentia for his involvement in the 1994 genocide.
According to the Rwandan official mail, which does not name the person, “never Rwanda had envisioned” a “fugitive convicted of genocide” could see her request prosper before the ACHPR. Hence the withdrawal of Kigali.
