The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) has rejected applications for early release submitted by Jean Kambanda and Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, ruling that neither has met the eligibility requirements for consideration under the tribunal’s legal framework.
The decisions, issued on July 23, mean both men will continue serving life sentences imposed for their roles in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Kambanda, Rwanda’s prime minister during the genocide, was arrested in Kenya in 1997 and transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). In 1998, he pleaded guilty to genocide and crimes against humanity, becoming the first head of government to admit responsibility for genocide before an international tribunal. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment, a verdict upheld on appeal in 2000.
In his application, Kambanda argued that he had spent nearly 29 years in prison, had cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty, and was eligible for conditional release under Senegalese law, where he is serving his sentence. He also cited declining health due to his lengthy imprisonment.
IRMCT President Judge Graciela Gatti Santana rejected the request, stating that eligibility for early release is determined by the Mechanism’s Statute and practice rather than the domestic laws of the country where a sentence is being served. Under the IRMCT’s policy, prisoners serving life sentences become eligible for consideration only after serving more than 30 years, the equivalent of two-thirds of a notional 45-year sentence. Having served less than that threshold, Kambanda was deemed ineligible.
Kamuhanda, Rwanda’s former Minister of Higher Education, Research and Culture in the 1994 interim government, was convicted by the ICTR in 2004 of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. His conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal in 2005.
In seeking early release, Kamuhanda acknowledged that he had served about 26 and a half years in prison and had not yet reached the 30-year eligibility threshold. He nevertheless argued that exceptional humanitarian circumstances warranted his release.
Judge Santana found that Kamuhanda had failed to demonstrate any compelling or exceptional circumstances that would justify an exception to the Mechanism’s rules and dismissed his application.
The IRMCT, which succeeded the ICTR, is responsible for overseeing the enforcement of sentences handed down by the international tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, including reviewing requests for pardon, sentence commutation and early release. The latest rulings mean both Kambanda and Kamuhanda will remain in prison while serving their life sentences.
