By Chief Charles A. Taku and Beth S. Lyons*
As 6 April 2026 approaches, commemorating the 1994 events in Rwanda precipitated and provoked by the RPF’s shooting down of the French aircraft and the killing of two Presidents – Rwanda’s Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundi’s Cyprien Ntaryamira, both Hutus – and its French crew, we are cognizant that President Kagame’s war against the Hutus is not over.
Just months from now, in June 2026, the reality is that persons acquitted by the ICTR[1] and those who have completed their sentences (‘released persons’) who are illegally detained in the Niger and the ICTR prisoners held in Benin and Senegal, could be forcibly transferred to Rwanda when the mandate for the IRMCT[2] ends. The recent UN Secretary-General’s Report to the Security Council, dated 1 December 2025, explicitly identifies Rwanda as a possible Enforcement State.
In fact, we understand that Rwanda is already acting on this as a fait accompli. It is preparing sections of the prison at Mpanga, which now houses prisoners from the Special Court of Sierra Leone, to accommodate both the ICTR prisoners from Benin and Senegal and the ICTR acquitted and released persons from the Niger.
Much has been written, including in this press at here and and here, about why transfer to Rwanda is a death knell for the ICTR persons, who were part of Rwanda’s military and governmental leadership before President Kagame and the RPF seized control. These men continue to be prisoners of the UN system and are victims of the ICTR’s selective prosecution of “Hutus only” for the events of 1994.
The UN has failed to find safe and secure countries to accept the ICTR acquitted and released persons in the Niger. The results of its failure are Kafkaesque, and violate principles of human rights, justice and due process found in international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights.
This is the reality of the five remaining ICTR men in the “safe-house” in the Niger in 2026:
• Dr. André Ntagerura has been illegally detained in a “safe-house” for twenty-two years. He was acquitted at trial in 2004 and the acquittal was affirmed by the Appeals Chamber in 2006.
• Prosper Mugiraneza has been illegally detained in a “safe-house” for thirteen years. In 2013, the ICTR Appeals Chamber acquitted him, reversing the Trial Chamber’s convictions in 2011 and its sentence of thirty years.
• Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye has been illegally detained in a “safe-house” for twelve years. In 2014, he was acquitted by the ICTR Appeals Chamber, reversing the Trial Chamber’s convictions and twenty year sentence rendered in 2011.
• Captain Innocent Sagahutu has been illegally detained in a “safe-house” for twelve years. In 2014, he was granted early release after the ICTR Appeals Chamber acquitted him on one charge and reduced his sentence on a second charge.
• Colonel Alphonse Nteziryayo has been illegally detained in a “safe-house” for ten years. In 2016, he was granted early release after the ICTR Appeals Chamber in 2015 reduced his thirty year sentence rendered in 2011.
Although these five men are “free” based on acquittals or completion of sentence, the reality is that they have no liberty: they remain stateless and without papers, and cannot travel. The UN pays a subsidy to the Niger for their lodging and subsistence, but this is scheduled to end in December 2026. And, until recently, they have been under complete “house arrest” and could not freely leave the “safe house” in Niamey.
Three other “safe-house” residents in the Niger have died while in UN captivity:
• Protais Zigiranyirazo was illegally detained for sixteen years, having been acquitted by the ICTR Appeals Chamber in 2009. He died in the “safe house” in 2025.
•Lt. Col. Anatole Nsengiyumva was illegally detained for thirteen years, having completed his sentence in 2011. He died in the “safe-house” in 2024.
• Lt. Col. Tharcisse Muvunyi was illegally detained for twelve years, having completed his sentence in 2012. He died in the “safe house” in 2024.
These years of illegal detentions add up to decades. These violations continue to take place within the IRMCT, a subsidiary organ of the UN, which is responsible for the care and welfare of these men. The UN must be held accountable for this unconscionable situation.
We suggest, as a start, that
1. The UN Security Council reject the option of Rwanda as an Enforcement State, or as a location for the acquitted and released persons.
2. The UN extend its current contract with the Niger (which ends in December 2026) to provide funds to the Niger Government for the subsistence of the remaining men in the “safehouse,” until the UN is able to find safe and secure countries to accept them.
3. The UN, consistent with the right to family life guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also found in the Mandela Rules, provide funding and facilitate logistics for bi-annual visits of the families of the ICTR acquitted, released and incarcerated persons.
4. The UN, consistent with its obligations under human rights law, compensate all the ICTR victims of illegal detention and other violations of human rights – which continue to exist. These reparations should be paid to the families of those who have died in illegal detention.
*Lead Counsel Chief Charles A. Taku and Co-Counsel Beth S. Lyons represented Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye at trial and on appeal in the “Military II” ICTR case at the ICTR. Lead Counsel Peter Robinson represents him at the post-acquittal stage in the IRMCT.
In 2026, Major Nzuwonemeyewill have completed his full sentence of twenty years (rendered by the Trial Chamber in 2011) plus six additional years for crimes for which he was acquitted in 2014 by the ICTR Appeals Chamber.
[1] International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
[2] International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
