A picture taken on March 22, 2019 shows skulls of victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi
KIGALI, Dec 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rwanda has issued seven new indictments for genocide fugitives in 2020 as it endeavours to push governments across the world to arrest suspects on their soil.
The list of genocide suspects has now grown to 1,145, and is expected to grow year-on-year as investigations discover more suspects in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
Tracing the fugitives has been “extremely difficult” because many of them have changed names or faked their death, prosecutors say.
“Some of the fugitives have paid for death announcements to be read on TV and radio so that their host countries stop pursuing them. Others have concealed their identity and live quiet and hidden lives,” Faustin Nkusi, Spokesperson of Rwanda Prosecution Authority, said.
But the main frustration over the last two decades has come from a widespread lack of political will from various governments in countries where the fugitives are living.
“We keep on pushing and updating international arrest warrants and gather more evidence. We need to cooperate with governments across the world, but it is not happening at the pace that we want,” he said.
The largest number of indictments – 408 – was issued for genocide suspects hiding in The Democratic Republic of Congo, having grown from 372 as of June 2019.
This is followed by Uganda with 277 fugitives, Malawi (63), Tanzania (52) and Kenya (35).
Indictments sent to France increased from 42 to 48 – which is the highest in Europe – followed by Belgium with 40 indictments, USA (23), Netherlands (18), Canada (14) and UK (5).
Only about 20 suspects have been deported or extradited for trial in Rwanda since the genocide in 1994, and only 23 have been tried and convicted by their host countries, according to the Rwanda Prosecution Authority.
“In order to show that they are working, some European countries have conducted sham trials which have given the suspects very light punishments, disregarding the heinous crimes they committed,”
Jean Damascene Ndabirora Kalinda, Commissioner of Justice at Ibuka, said.
Ibuka is an umbrella organization for genocide survivors that is also involved in gathering testimonies and evidence against genocide suspects.
“All countries have an obligation to fight against genocide; this includes denying safe haven to suspects. This is unfortunately taken as lip service by many governments across the world,” he said.
But there has been growing pressure from within Europe to up the ante against genocide fugitives.
Last week, Stuart Polak, a member of the UK Parliament, urged his government to deport five genocide suspects living “freely” in the country and “receiving full benefits”.
In April last year, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a probe and formed a commission to investigate his country’s role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, where over a million people were killed.
In May last year, genocide mastermind suspect Felicien Kabuga was arrested in Paris where he was hiding under a false identity. — NNN-AGENCIES
