French Court Denies Extradition of Rwandan Genocide Suspect (September 15, 2015) [1]
On September 15, 2015, a court in Toulouse, France turned down an extradition request for Joseph Habyarimana, a Rwandan who is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. Mr. Habyarimana is accused of identifying monks of the Tutsi ethnic group to their killers. According to a news report [3], the court denied the request, arguing that the actions were not considered crimes at the time of their commission and holding that laws cannot be applied retroactively. The President of CPCR, a group of Rwandan plaintiffs, expressed dismay at the ruling saying, “France never reacts positively to extradition applications, while all other countries do.” He further disagreed with the retroactivity argument of the court, drawing a comparison to the trials of former Nazi collaborators.