[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] has decided to transfer the case [text, PDF] of Fulgence Kayishema [case materials] to the Rwandan authorities. The three-panel Referral Chamber ordered the transfer so that Rwandan authorities can refer the case to the High Court of Rwanda for trial under Rule 11 bis authorizing the transfer of cases to national jurisdictions. The Chamber further mandated that all case materials concerning the indictment [text, PDF] against Kayishema be handed over to the Prosecutor General of Rwanda within 30 days after the decision. Kayishema, former Judicial Police Inspector of Kivumu Commune in Kibuye Prefecture, was charged and indicted in absentia for his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] including genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crime against humanity, but he has remained at large. The Chamber requested that Rwanda regularly report to the ICTR and the International Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on efforts taken to apprehend Kayishema.

The ICTR’s transfer of Kayishema’s case to Rwanda is the second such transfer decision within six months. The ICTR previously decided to transfer the case of Jean-Bosco Uwinkindi [Hague Justice profile; case materials], a former Rwandan pastor, to the national authorities, but, on Friday, Judge Khan ordered [text, PDF] that his transfer to be stayed until a suitable monitoring mechanism has been established. In December, the ICTR Appeals Chamber upheld [JURIST report] the decision to transfer Uwinkindi’s case. The initial decision [JURIST report] was made in June when the Referral Chamber determined that Rwanda was capable of accepting and prosecuting Uwinkindi’s case.