Acquitted of genocide, a handful of Rwandans live a life in limbo

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda will close its doors today after more than 20 years in operation.

Since its first trial, 61 individuals were convicted of crimes connected to the 1994 genocide, when between 800,000 and 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. But the court also acquitted a number of individuals, and yet these men have been unable return to the lives they lived prior to arrest. 

Eleven individuals — including three men who were found guilty and served their full prison sentence — now live together, stranded, in a safe house in Arusha, Tanzania, where the tribunal meets. Among them is Casimir Bizimungu, Rwanda’s Minister of Health in the 1994 interim government.

He was arrested in 1999 and accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. In 2011, he was found not guilty, and since then he has been trying to rejoin his family in Canada.

“I have lost very precious years in my family’s life,” Bizimungu said.

According to an agreement signed between the United Nations and Tanzania, anyone acquitted by the court cannot seek to immigrate to the East African nation. But returning to Rwanda isn't an option either.

“In Rwanda they still have the freedom to cook up new charges against you,” Bizimungu said.

Many of the acquitted are therefore trying to leave Africa entirely. Court officials are looking to countries in Europe and North America, where many of the acquitted men’s families have resettled, to accept those who have been cleared.

“They have spouses, children, grandchildren, who are French, Belgian and Canadian,” said Pascal Besnier, the head of legal affairs at the tribunal. “They want to go back to be reunited with their families.”

But finding an open door has been a daunting challenge. Many countries are reluctant to open their doors to men who have been charged with genocide, court officials said. Other countries fear opening their doors could harm relations with Rwanda.

“There are countries who have said that they have good working relationships with Rwanda and they worry or fear, some of them have said, that Rwanda would get very angry if they accommodate any of these people,” said Bongani Majola, the tribunal registrar.

Majola says the men were cleared by the court and should be able to return to the lives they had prior to arrest.

“We were convinced that they were guilty, and we were not able to prove that they [were] guilty,” Majola said. “The minimum that they are entitled to is to go back to the lives they lived before we brought them here.”