For the first time, a French court has agreed to extradite a suspect facing charges relating to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. 51 year old Claude Muhayimana is accused of taking part in genocide and crimes against humanity. Mr Muhayimana, a local government worker, denies the charges, and the French government could still block his removal.
At least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered by Hutu extremists in just 100 days – the fastest mass murder in history. France was heavily criticised at the time for trying to prop up the Rwandan government that had encouraged the killings.
Earlier this month Leon Mugesera arrived in Rwanda to face charges stemming from a rabble-rousing anti-Tutsi speech he made in 1992. The former university don had been resisting extradition from Canada for the last 16 years.
Mugesera had referred to Tutsis as cockroaches, and said they should be exterminated, adding: ‘Know that the person whose throat you do not cut now will be the one who will cut yours.’
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