Rwanda Case Law

PROSECUTION v. HABYARIMANA

Court

Court of Appeal

Case number

RPAA/GEN 00008/2019/CA

The appeal by Habyarimana Jean is unfounded. The Court of Appeal finds that he was lawfully imprisoned following conviction and that procedural irregularities in pre-trial detention do not entitle him to provisional release. ICTR case law regarding other MRND leaders does not exculpate him as he was not a party to those proceedings. The court has discretion to assess testimonial evidence, and the testimonies against Habyarimana Jean were corroborated and credible. The High Court did not disregard exculpatory evidence but found it less credible than prosecution evidence. The correct legal clas…

Source excerpt

• Genocide
• Conspiracy to commit genocide
• Complicity in genocide
• Incitement to commit genocide
• Criminal procedure
• Law of evidence

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PROSECUTION v. HABYARIMANA

Court

Court of Appeal

Case number

RPAA/GEN 00008/2019/CA

Habyarimana Jean was lawfully imprisoned following conviction and cannot be provisionally released on grounds of prior unlawful detention. ICTR case law does not exculpate him as he was not a party. The court properly exercised its discretion in evaluating testimonial evidence, including conflicting witness statements, and found the prosecution's evidence more credible. The High Court's classification of offenses required rectification, but the evidence established Habyarimana Jean's guilt for conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide, and incitement to commit genocide. The penalt…

Source excerpt

• Genocide
• Conspiracy to commit genocide
• Complicity in genocide
• Incitement to commit genocide
• Criminal procedure
• Evidence

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UBUSHINJACYAHA v. UWIRINGIYIMANA_232774_kn

Court

Supreme Court

Case number

RS/REV/INJUST/PEN0004/15/CS

The Supreme Court found injustice in a sentence ordering release only after payment of a fine, held that condition unlawful, and ordered immediate release.

• Unlawful detention
• Imprisonment for non-payment of fine
• Revision for injustice
• Execution of criminal sentences
• Criminal-law
• Revision-for-injustice

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KARANGIRA v. IYABURUNGA

Court

Supreme Court

Case number

RPA0076/15/CS

The Supreme Court held that separate prison sentences for different offences must be served consecutively, not at the same time, and upheld the detention.

• Unlawful detention
• Execution of penalties
• Non-retroactivity of penal law
• Damages for wrongful accusation
• Criminal-law
• Unlawful-detention

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