Mozambique and Rwanda signed an agreement last week that will allow the extradition of Rwandan citizens, which for the Rwandan community living in Mozambique will help Paul Kagame in the fight against the opposition.

Analysts heard by VOA say that this compromise could violate international constitutional law, given the actions taken by the Rwandan government, in addition to only benefiting one country.

The agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, which provides for the extradition of citizens, was initialed on Friday, June 3, by the Ministers of Justice of Rwanda and Mozambique, Soline Nyirahabimana and Helena Kida, respectively.

Without recording interviews members of the Association of Rwandans in Mozambique said that this agreement has reinforced their fear of persecution by Paul Kagame's government, which has been hunting its opponents. They recall the assassination of the association's vice president last year, as well as the kidnapping of a Rwandan journalist on the island of Inhaca, who turned up in Kigali.

For political analyst Muhamad Yassine this agreement is disturbing, given the latest events involving the Rwandan community in the country.

"It was not a good diplomatic strategy (...) I think it is disturbing, because Mozambique is recognized as a host country, because it was also hosted at the time of the liberation struggle. We know that the country has a large community from Rwanda that is well framed from the point of view of business, trade, and also in the educational area, and that has been persecuted by the Rwandan regime," Yassine commented.

Currency of exchange

For his part, analyst Wilker Dias said that this agreement only benefits Rwanda, which has many citizens who fled that country after the genocide.

"Mozambique has a large number of Rwandan citizen refugees, who fled for purely political reasons, mostly. Some of them are accused of allegedly committing genocide. Years ago, Rwanda had already requested an extradition agreement that would benefit them much more than Mozambicans," said Dias.

For these analysts the implementation of this agreement could violate some international principles.

"It is complicated for Mozambique to assume this commitment, considering that, even from the point of view of international constitutional law, the country is not authorized to extradite any person, when it realizes that the punishment that this person will have in the country of origin will be above what would be the penalty to be applied in Mozambique," said Muhamad.

And Dias stressed that "it could be that bargaining chip, because Rwanda has been waiting for this agreement with Mozambique for a long time. Just visit what were the meetings between Paul Kagame and Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, in 2016. There was already talk about 12 alleged perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, who are on home soil, who were being followed.