Rwanda expels Germany ambassador after presidential aide arrested News
Rwanda expels Germany ambassador after presidential aide arrested

[JURIST] The German ambassador to Rwanda was given 24 hours on Tuesday to leave the country in response to Sunday's arrest of a Rwandan presidential aide in Germany [JURIST report] in connection with the 1994 assassination of then-president Juvenal Habyarima [NYT report] that touched off the infamous Rwanda genocide [HRW backgrounder]. Rwandan Minister for Foreign Affairs Rosemary Museminali [official profile] said that the expulsion of Christian Clages [embassy website] did not mean that Rwanda had permanently severed ties with Germany. Clages' expulsion, and the recall of Rwandan ambassador to Germany Eugene Richard Gasana, were protests against the arrest of Rose Kabuye [HAF profile], an aide to Rwandan President Paul Kagame [official website] and an official in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) [HRW backgrounder]. Kabuye was arrested in Frankfurt under a 2006 European warrant [text, PDF] issued by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière [BBC profile]. Reuters has more. From Kigali, the New Times has local coverage. Deutsche Welle has additional local coverage.

In October, German authorities transferred [JURIST report] Augustin Ngirabatware, a former Rwandan minister suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwanda genocide [BBC backgrounder], from a facility in Frankfurt to a UN detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania where he faces trial by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website]. In July, German border police arrested [press release; JURIST report] Rwandan war crimes suspect Callixte Mbarushiman as he was preparing to travel to Russia.