04.11.08 - RWANDA/GERMANY - GERMANY SETS FREE TWO RWANDANS ACCUSED OF 1994 GENOCIDE

Arusha, 4 November 2008 (FH) - Germany set free on Monday two Rwandans accused of 1994 genocide whose extradition had been requested by Kigali.

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Rwanda accuses Onesphore Rwabukombe and Callixte Mbarushimana for their roles in the mass killings, which according to UN estimates, claimed about 800,000 lives of mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, reports Hirondelle Agency.

The defendants' lawyer, Philippe Greciano, in a statement dispatched to Hirondelle, described the release as "victory for human rights and a strong signal of Franco-German friendship for a responsible justice in Europe".

Mbarushimana, who enjoyed refugee status in France, was arrested in 2005 in Germany shortly after his election as Assistant Executive Secretary of Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)-a movement set up in DRC, which has been accused by Kigali of sheltering former interahamwe militiamen.

Mbarushimana, an employee of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kigali during genocide, had been indicted for murder of ethnic Tutsis, but the ICTR abandoned proceedings against him.

Rwabukombe, a former Mayor of Muvumba Commune, eastern Rwanda, was arrested last April accused of massacres in Byumba in 1990.

These arrests followed visit to Germany of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

PB/ER/MM/SC/GF

© Hirondelle News Agency