A majority of the Rwandan parliament voted to abolish the death penalty there last Friday. The move will eliminate obstacles regarding the extradition of war crimes suspects back to Rwanda to face prosecution. Many countries will not execute extradition treaties with countries that practice capital punishment. The new legislation is somewhat controversial, however. Some of the survivors of the genocide there have expressed strong opposition to the abolishment. The survivors have noted that the death penalty existed in Rwanda before the genocide there in 1994, but it did not "deter people from picking up machetes to slaughter their fellows." Officials, however, have noted the death penalty is an obstacle to justice. The new legislation will allow fugitives to be transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Rwandan officials have expressed frustration over the ICTR process and want suspects transferred to face to face trial at home. The law has yet to be approved by the senate.
The African Union (AU) contingent in Darfur is calling for cooperation between peacekeepers and rebel groups associated with the Sudanese government. Darfur's rebel groups are blamed for the rape of one French humanitarian aid worker and other hindrances, including an ambush that killed five AU peacekeepers in April. AU chief of mission, Monique Mukaruliza, said the rebel groups activities had "paralyzed AU activities." The Sudan Liberation Movement, or SLM, has been implicated in the murder of an Egyptian peacekeeper; the first such incident since international amendments to AU forces began. UN officials, as well as the SLM chief of staff, have not confirmed the allegations, however.
In related news, Chad's president, Idriss Deby, has tone downed his opposition to the deployment of international military personnel on its border with Sudan. Chad has previously demanded that only police, not soldiers, be deployed in its territory. The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner , who co-founded Medecins Sans Frontieres , has called for a humanitarian aid corridor through Chad, though the proposal has been rejected by Chadian officials.
