Last week, the ICTR Appeals Chamber confirmed rejection of prosecutor's motion requesting transfer before the Rwandan court of a former businessman, Yussuf Munyakazi, 73.
Four other similar motions are pending either before the Appeals Court or First Instance Chamber.
"The ball is thrown back to the Security Council. It is a fait accompli situation", Aloys Mutabingwa, Special Representative of Rwandan Government to the ICTR, told Hirondelle Agency Monday.
He stressed that the refusal puts the United Nations in the obligation to extend the mandate of the Tribunal which has been directed to complete all first instance trials by end of 2008.
To respect the time allowed by the Security Council, the Tribunal is constrained to transfer certain cases to national courts. But the judges oppose the transfer of cases to Rwandan courts whereas other countries are hardly interested.
"This decision compromises the principle of complentarity between an international tribunal and the national judicial bodies", stated Mutabingwa.
The Appeals Chamber confirmed the refusal to transfer Munyakazi for fear that he can be sentenced to life in prison in isolation.
Mr Mutabingwa was astonished because, as he recalled that Kigali had already assured the Tribunal, that too in writing that no defendant transferred from the ICTR would be sentenced to this type of sentence.
In November 2007, the ICTR abandoned jurisdiction, for the benefit of French justice, of the cases of the former Prefect Laurent Bucyibaruta and Wenceslas Munyeshyaka.
ER/PB/MM/SC
© Hirondelle News Agency