Africa-Press – Rwanda. In June 2023, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) in The Hague ruled that Félicien Kabuga, one of the alleged chief architects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was unfit to stand trial.
At the time, aged 90, judges concluded that Kabuga could no longer meaningfully participate in proceedings and was unlikely to ever “regain” fitness.
The court proposed an alternative procedure resembling a trial but without the possibility of conviction, a decision designed to safeguard Kabuga’s rights while still pursuing justice.
The ruling marked a turning point in a case that began in 2020, when Kabuga, often described as the financier of the genocide, was arrested in Paris after more than two decades on the run.
His trial opened in The Hague in 2022, where he faced seven charges, including complicity in genocide, incitement, conspiracy, persecution, and extermination. However, frail and wheelchair-bound, Kabuga largely followed the proceedings via video-link, occasionally refusing even remote appearances.
By March 2023, the trial was suspended after medical experts testified that he was unfit to plead, comprehend evidence, or engage meaningfully in court. On August 7, 2023, the Trial Chamber indefinitely stayed the proceedings, ordering that Kabuga remain at the United Nations Detention Unit under medical monitoring, pending a decision on his possible provisional release.
Two years in limbo
In an ongoing case on September 9, 2025, the prosecution presented a submission concerning Kabuga’s provisional release to Rwanda, requesting the chamber to decide on it.
“In the interests of justice, the Trial Chamber should decide whether to provisionally release Félicien Kabuga to Rwanda, his country of citizenship and the only state that has expressed willingness to accept him. Based on the experience of the past two years, if Kabuga is ever to be released from detention, it will only be to Rwanda,” the Prosecution submitted.
In August 2023, the Appeals Chamber had instructed the Trial Chamber to address Kabuga’s detention situation, but acknowledged that securing a host state could pose challenges.
Two years later, he has not found a host state. His preferred European states have declined to accept him, while the Netherlands, where he is detained, has made it clear that he “cannot be released onto its territory.”
According to the prosecution, the chamber now has all the necessary information to decide. An independent aeromedical expert has outlined how Kabuga could be flown from the Netherlands to Rwanda while mitigating health risks.
Rwanda, for its part, has expressed readiness to cooperate fully with the Mechanism, offering logistical support, medical care, and guarantees of Kabuga’s rights and freedoms.
“The parties have both provided numerous submissions concerning the question of provisional release to Rwanda, pursuant to a confidential order for submissions issued by the Trial Chamber on 14 October 2024,” the Prosecution noted.
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