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Rwandan spy chief case dismissed by UK court

August 10, 2015

The case against Emmanuel Karenzi Karake has been dropped after a British court decided it had no grounds to prosecute. Intelligence head Karake is wanted in Spain on terrorism charges over the deaths of nine Spaniards.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GD19
Ruanda Sicherheitschef Karenzi Karake
Image: J. Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

A British court dropped the controversial extradition case against General Emmanuel Karenzi Karake on Monday, freeing the Rwandan intelligence chief who is wanted in Spain. Karake, who was detained on a European Arrest Warrant in June, had been freed on bail pending trial, but is now free to return home.

The 54-year-old Karake is wanted in Spain for "crimes of terrorism" or "war crimes against civilians," as the British police put it, relating to the deaths of nine Spanish citizens during the Rwandan civil war and genocide in the 1990s. The killings of the Spaniards were alleged revenge murders for crimes during the genocide.

"The general has been freed unconditionally after the Spanish authorities conceded that the general has committed no offense that could be prosecuted in both England and Spain," said a statement from his defense firm, Omnia Strategy, which was founded by Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Cherie Blair had led Karake's legal team.

The Crown Prosecution Service explained that the case was dismissed because "the relevant laws on the conduct alleged in this case do not cover the acts of non-UK nations or residents abroad."

Former rebel leader

General Karake was one of the main leaders of the armed wing of Tutsi rebel group Rwandan Patriotic Front (PRF), which ended the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and has been in power in the country ever since. He also acted as deputy commander of the joint United Nations and African Union Mission (UNAMID) peacekeeping force in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region from 2008-2009, during which time Spain issued the arrest warrant.

The charges caused tension between Rwanda and the UN, and prompted Karake's early departure from the peacekeeping mission.

The Rwandan government was furious at Karake's arrest, with President Paul Kagame saying it displayed "absolute arrogance and contempt." The African Union had also called for his "unconditional and immediate" release.

es/rc (AFP, Reuters)