Pretoria - Former Rwandan general and alleged war criminal Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa and his family will retain their refugee status in South Africa - and he will not be sent back to his country of origin where he may face persecution.
This follows a court ruling by Gauteng Provincial Division of the High Court, sitting in Pretoria.
Nearly two years ago, Judge Nomonde Mngibisa-Thusi reserved judgment in the application by the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in SA. It wanted the decision by the Crown Mines Refugee Centre - granting the former general refugee status - withdrawn.
It was argued that South African authorities exceeded their public powers by granting refugee status to Nyamwasa, as he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Rwandan Military Court for alleged grenade attacks in Kigali in 2010. He was also allegedly implicated by French and Spanish authorities in war crimes and they requested he be extradited.
Nyamwasa fled to South Africa early in 2010 after he fell out of favour with Rwandan president Paul Kagame. An attempt to assassinate Nyamwasa was carried out in Joburg and he and his family were granted refugee status.
The applicants said this was highly irregular, as the granting of refugee status was a long process. It was questioned how Nyamwasa could simply walk into the office and receive refugee status on the same day. The applicant said it had received information that Nyam-wasa was suspected of having committed genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwanda and he thus did not qualify for refugee status.
The judge was told that in affording him refugee status, the South African government failed to comply with the country’s international obligations in terms of UN conventions and protocol. It was also said that in granting him refugee status, it would open the floodgates to others in the same position.
Counsel for the applicant argued that failure to withdraw the refugee status would set a dangerous precedent whereby the South African authorities could use the confidentiality clause in refugee applications to protect perpetrators of international crimes against humanity.
But Judge Mngibisa-Thusi said it was not in dispute that if Nyamwasa was to return to Rwanda, his life could be in danger. He thus fell squarely within the vulnerable group our laws sought to protect. There was also no proof of any wrongdoing by Nyamwasa or that he was guilty of crimes against humanity. The judge could not find any error by the government in affording him and his family refugee status and turned down the application.
Pretoria News