A British court has dismissed a case seeking the extradition of the head of Rwanda's intelligence agency to Spain for his alleged role in war crimes after the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
General Karenzi Karake was arrested in June, over an indictment in a Spanish court in 2008, which accused him of killing ethnic Hutu civilians in both Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo in revenge for the genocide, and of ordering the killing of three Spanish aid workers in 1997.
However, under UK law the general could not be charged for a crime committed in another country, unlike in Spain, under universal jurisdiction.
Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said she was "delighted" that Gen Karake was returning to Rwanda.
"This was an unnecessary and abusive process," she said in a tweet.
Analysis by Rob Wilson, BBC News:For an extradition to be made following a European arrest warrant, the alleged offence must be against the law of both the prosecuting country, in this case Spain, and the country of arrest (UK). There is, however, a list of 32 offences for which dual criminality is not required.
"Terrorism" is on that list but "war crimes" are not. It appears that Gen Karake's defence team successfully argued that he was facing war crimes charges in Spain, and so "dual criminality" did not apply.
In addition, Gen Karake cannot be charged for war crimes committed in another country under UK law, as he can in Spain. This is because of Spain's particular laws relating to "universal jurisdiction", which allow Spanish courts to indict those it believes have carried out crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide or torture.
Rwandan general arrested in London over genocide (23 June 2015)