26 February - 6 March 2016

1. Rwanda withdrew from declaration of African Court of Human and People’s Rights 

“Rwanda withdrew from declaration of African Court of Human and People’s Rights” New Times, 5th March 2016

• The African Court of Human and People’s Rights has lost the extra jurisdiction to hear cases involving Rwanda after the government withdrew from the declaration that allows individuals or groups of individuals to file cases.
• The decision to withdraw from the declaration was reached after a Genocide convict and fugitive Stanley Safari secured a right to be heard under the guise of defending human rights of Rwandan citizens.
• In 2009, Safari, a former senator, was found guilty of multiple counts of Genocide-related charges by a Gacaca court in Huye and sentenced to life in prison. He took flight a few days before his sentence was read, and an Interpol red notice was issued to facilitate his arrest.
• Johnston Busingye, the minister for Justice, told that the court was informed of the gravity of crimes committed by Safari and added that the special optional and unilateral jurisdiction that was given the Court in the 2013 Declaration - to resolve human rights disputes between individuals, groups Vs the State – was abused by genocide convicts and the Court should not have offered them a platform which they would use to launder themselves.