Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo explained the position of her Government on the request

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo explained the position of her Government on the request submitted in July by the Democratic Republic of Congo for the extradition of four former leaders of the rebel movement M23. “Our position is that we cannot extradite these people to countries that maintain the death penalty in their penal code.” She added: “But our Ministry of Justice is looking at the matter. Extraditing people is a legal process that takes time.” The Minister of Justice and Attorney General Johnston Busingye said that the extradition of four M23 officials – Jean-Marie Runiga and military commanders Col Baudouin Ngaruye, Eric Badege and Innocent Zimurinda – to Democratic Republic of Congo would be done legally and not politically.
The M23 is mainly made up of the Banyamulenge ethnic group which is fighting for equal rights in Congo. The rebel group was founded in 2012 and operates in eastern DRC but split in February 2013 after internal wrangles. Subsequently, Runiga led 680 former rebels across the border into Rwanda as they fled fighting between two M23 factions. They never returned to Congo, instead opting to denounce rebellion and apply for asylum while the faction led by Col Sultani Makenga carried on with the rebellion.
In February 2014, DRC’s ambassador to the UN, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, accused Rwanda of failing to act on Congo’s request for the extradition of the four M23 leaders and asked the UNSC to urge both Rwanda and Uganda to co-operate by arresting and handing over wanted M23 commanders to Congolese judicial bodies.
Minister for Justice Johnston Busingye however dismissed the claims and explained that in August 2013 he wrote to his Congolese counterpart, Wivine Mumba, requesting for legal documents that were missing from the extradition request, including records of the suspects, charges and evidence against them, as well as legal references forming the basis of prosecution of each suspect. However, according to the Justice Minister, Kinshasa did not respond to the letter.