"The Referral Chamber orders the case be referred to the authorities of the Republic of Rwanda, so that those authorities should forthwith refer the case to the High Court of Rwanda for an expeditious trial," reads part of the decision dated February 22, 2012.
On June 28, 2011, another Referral Chamber already transferred the case of Pastor Jean Uwinkindi to the Rwandan judiciary for prosecution. The decision was confirmed by the ICTR Appeal Chamber on December 16, 2011.
However, the effective transfer of Uwinkindi, who is still in ICTR custody, has been stayed until a monitoring mechanism for his trial is put in place.
In the case of Kayishema, the Chamber ordered the Prosecution to hand over to the Rwandan Prosecutor General, the soonest and not later than 30 days after the decision becoming final, the material supporting the indictment against the accused and all other appropriate evidentiary material in its possession.
According to the indictment filed on July 5, 2001, Kayishema, who was Judicial Police Inspector of Kivumu Commune in Kibuye prefecture, Western Rwanda, is charged with genocide, or in the alternative complicity in genocide, as well as conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity.
The Chamber presided by Judge Khalida Rachid Khan noted that Rwanda had made material changes in its law and had indicated its capacity and willingness to prosecute cases referred by the Tribunal.
‘'The Chamber expresses its solemn hope that the Republic of Rwanda, in accepting referrals from this Tribunal, will actualize in practice the commitments it made in its filing about its good faith, capacity and willingness to enforce the highest standard of international justice in the referral cases,'' states the ruling.
The referral application for Kayishema was filed by the Prosecution alongside that of Uwinkindi and genocide fugitive Charles Sikubwabo, on November 4, 2010.
But the Tribunal deferred the applications for Kayishema and Sikubwabo pending their arrest or, in Uwinkindi's case, final determination.
Another similar application for genocide accused Bernard Munyagishari, the alleged leader of the Interahamwe militias in Gisenyi prefecture, North Rwanda, is still pending.
The first five applications filed in 2007 were rejected because the Chambers were of the view that the accused would not receive fair trials in Rwanda as a result of the laws in existence in the country at that time.
FK/NI/GF
© Hirondelle News Agency