Rwanda sees the current wave of deportations of genocide suspects to the country as a boost to the move to pursue hundreds of pending extradition requests in Europe and North America.

The country has over the past two years made positive progress in its pursuit for genocide suspects scattered across the globe. There are over 500 indictments issued by Rwanda and dozens of extradition requests are pending.

There has been little progress in some countries such as France, which Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo accused of sitting on genocide cases.

“There is not a single case in France that has been tried and concluded,” Ms Mushikiwabo said.

Observers however say the wave of extraditions is likely to evoke a positive response from countries that have been reluctant to send suspects to Rwanda.

According to Dr Phil Clark, a scholar of genocide based in the UK, the recent extraditions of Rwandan genocide suspects from Canada, the US and the Netherlands, as well as transfers by the ICTR, highlight a growing international consensus that Rwanda is capable of holding fair genocide trials.

“In all of these cases, foreign courts rejected vociferous arguments by defence counsel that genocide suspects would not get a fair trial in Rwanda.”

“This highlights the reality that reforms to the Rwandan judiciary over the last decade have enabled the system now to handle these contentious cases in a fair and transparent manner,” Dr Clark said.

Seyoboka extradition

Last Thursday, Canada deported Henri Jean-Claude Seyoboka, a former government soldier during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who had sought asylum in the country in 1996.

Mr Seyoboka, who is accused of failing to mention his military links as he sought refugee status, is the second genocide suspect Canada has extradited, after the 2012 deportation of Rwandan scholar Dr Leon Mugesera.

READ: Rwandan court sentences former don to life for genocide

His case came to light in 1998 after he was interviewed by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He had been handed a jail sentence of 19 years in absentia by the traditional Gacaca courts, prompting Kigali to follow up with Canadian authorities earlier this year.

In May, during his deportation hearing, he alleged that he would not be accorded a fair trial if sent back to Rwanda. Federal Court Judge Danièle Tremblay-Lamer said that Mr Seyoboka needed to face justice in his home country.

Fair trial

His extradition to Rwanda has ignited calls by Kigali to countries that still harbour genocide suspects to act.

Rwanda’s Prosecutor General Richard Muhumuza said that the deportations are a “wake-up call” to countries that still have doubts that Rwanda cannot accord these suspects a fair trial. These claims are baseless and the current cases, closed or ongoing have proved otherwise,” Mr Muhumuza said.

The extradition of Mr Seyoboka by Canada comes hot on the heels of two more extraditions last week by The Netherlands.

“The National Public Prosecution Authority of Rwanda guarantees a fair trial to Jean Claude Seyoboka in accordance with national legislations and other international instruments ratified by Rwanda,” said the spokesperson of the prosecution Faustin Nkusi.