KIGALI,
Rwanda
Since the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit (GFTU) was established in 2007, it has issued 1,146 indictments and arrest warrants against Genocide fugitives in 33 countries, Jean-Bosco Siboyintore, the head of GFTU has said.
GFTU
operates under the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA).
Siboyintore
made the revelation last Friday on March 12, during the training of Rwandan
parliamentarians on the convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide.
He was
making a presentation on the current state of pursuing fugitives of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi,
challenges, strategies and the contribution the parliamentarians in tackling
them.
He said that
among other challenges, there is lack of political will among countries
to extradite the Genocide suspects to
Rwanda so that they stand trial, or at least try them in their courts,
indicating that legal action has been taken against only 46 suspects either
way.
This
figure suggests that 1,100 genocide fugitives have not yet been brought to
book.
The
above-mentioned Convention was approved and proposed for signature and
ratification or accession by General Assembly resolution 260 A (III) of 9
December 1948. It entered into force on January 12, 1951.
Among
other provisions, it states that Genocide and related acts shall not be
considered as political crimes for the purpose of extradition. The countries
which are parties to the Convention commit in such cases to grant extradition
in accordance with their laws and treaties in force.
Siboyintore
said that the fact that the Genocide suspects who are roaming freely abroad is
one of the contributing factors to the trivialisation of the 1994 genocide
against Tutsi.
Among
the Genocide suspects at large, there is
Lieutenant Colonel Pheneas Munyarugarama who was commander of Gako Military
Camp; Charles Sikubwabo, former burgomaster (mayor) of Gishyita Commune in the
former Kibuye (in current Karongi District), and Aloys Ndimbati, former
burgomaster of Gisovu Commune also in the former Kibuye Prefecture.
These are
considered genocide masterminds and their indictments were referred to Rwanda
by the now-defunct International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Of the
1,100 Genocide fugitives, Siboyintore said that 408 are in the
neighbouring DR Congo, 277 in Uganda; 63 in Malawi, 52 in Tanzania, 47 in France, 42 in Congo Brazzaville,
while 40 are in Belgium.
Other
countries are Kenya where 35 Genocide suspects are believed to reside, 23 in
America (USA), 18 in The Netherlands, Zambia harbours 15, Burundi hosts 15,
Canada 14, Mozambique hosts 13 and 11 are in Central African Republic.
Also, 10
suspects are in Cameroon, seven in Norway, Sweden, and Gabon, each; Germany,
UK, and South Africa hosts five, each; and three are in Denmark, New Zealand,
Ivory Coast, and Switzerland each.
Finally,
two Genocide suspects are believed to be in Zimbabwe, two in Swaziland, while
one was reported in Finland, Ghana, Benin, and Australia each.
Bringing
the Genocide fugitives to book has taken long, as about 27 years have elapsed
since the Genocide was committed.
But, some
parliamentarians and government officials are optimistic that justice will finally be done for the Genocide victims since
its crime is imprescriptible – not subject to statute of limitations.
Some of
the challenges Siboyintore cited include Genocide fugitives who use refugee
status and political reasons as a pretext for not being tried for the crimes
they are suspected of.
However,
he said that a person should not be granted refugee status when they are being
pursued for international crimes.
Others
are people who use the tact of changing their identity and nationality, which
makes it difficult to track him.
Siboyintore
said that the counter strategy to this issue is to work with Rwanda’s embassies
and the diaspora so that whoever knows the suspect who changed names or other
details should report that to prosecution.
“There
are collaborators who [falsely] announce that a suspect died because they know
that the dead is not pursued [judicially],” he said.
According
to the Ministry of Justice, Rwanda has so far signed extradition treaties with
10 countries.
Jean-Damascène
Bizimana, Executive Secretary of National Commission for the Fight against
Genocide (CNLG) said that there are countries that have not yet included
punishment of denial and trivialization of the genocide against the Tutsi in
their legislation.
He said
that there is a need to drum constant reminders about the international
resolutions punishing genocide, its denial and minimisation during summits such
as the 2021 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
(CHOGM) which will take place in Kigali in June this year
so that they are implemented.
Speaker
Donatille Mukabalisa said that the country will never relent or give up on
efforts to ensure that all the Genocide fugitives from all their hideouts are
brought to book, indicating that effective collaboration such as parliamentary
diplomacy, is key.
“As
parliamentarians, we will continue to use international legislative assemblies
to which we are members to remind our counterparts where Genocide fugitives are
harbored, or continue to give platform to those who propagate genocide
ideology, deny and minimise the Genocide against Tutsi, that they have to be
brought before justice either in Rwanda or in those countries,” she said.
She added
that the Rwandan legislature will lobby the enactment of laws that implement
the international conventions to which those countries are signatories and the
resolutions adopted by the UN because it has been indicated that there is a gap
in that regard.
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