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Concern persists over elusive justice, 20 years after genocide

Saturday January 11 2014
flame

Two 20-year-olds carry the Flame of Remembrance at Gisozi Memorial Centre on January 7, 2014 during the launch of commemorative activities in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide. The activities will climax in April. Photo/Cyril Ndegeya

Rwanda officially launched activities that will lead up to the 20th commemoration of the 1994 genocide with a Flame of Remembrance which will be taken around the country between January and April.

But as the country readies itself for the most important timeline marking two decades after the mass killings, genocide survivors are calling on the international community to pursue the suspects still at large.

READ: ‘Kwibuka20’ tops Rwandan calendar

The umbrella association of genocide survivors, Ibuka, also says it is disturbed by the rate at which genocide suspects convicted by Gacaca Courts are appealing to have their cases retried as part of the mechanism that was put in place before the grassroots genocide courts wound up.

The president of Ibuka, Dr Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, said the association was concerned by the rate at which genocide cases which had been convicted are returning to contemporary courts on appeal.

“The rate at which these cases are returning to courts for retrial is worrying us. The government needs to come up with a new policy to replace this mechanism left behind by Gacaca,” Dr Dusingizemungu, said, in reference to a process put in place by the Gacaca Courts as they wound up.

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The mechanism allowed cases that had not been completed before April 2012 as the Gacaca Courts prepared to wind up in July the same year to be tried in contemporary courts but also provided that those not satisfied by their convictions in Gacaca to appeal for retrial.

Ibuka says many convicted suspects are appealing to have their cases retried, which is making genocide survivors “uncomfortable.”

“People who were convicted four years ago are all of a sudden coming up to appeal their sentences, claiming that they were wrongly convicted,” said Dr Dusingizemungu. “Genocide survivors are asking themselves, how long can this go on?

Send them home

“We are of the view that we might end up seeing all cases retried, and the big question will be, who killed the people?”

Survivors contend that this could trigger a wave of genocide ideology as families of the victims, who believe justice had been served, are pitted against those of the suspects, who think the process to convict their kin was not satisfactory.

Genocide survivors are urging the international community to compel countries harbouring genocide fugitives to send them to Rwanda to face trial, or at least try them in their countries of residence.

Survivors say recent efforts to pursue genocide suspects from their safe havens were beginning to pay off with European countries making fresh arrests and promising possible extraditions. They however feel that a lot more needs to be done in that aspect.

READ: Genocide fugitives in trouble as extradition push gains speed

Britain has, for example, been accused of dragging its feet in deciding the fate of three former mayors former communes located in the southern part of the country. They are Charles Munyaneza (Kinyamakara), Emmanuel Nteziryayo (Mudasomwa) and Celestin Ugirashebuja (Kigoma).

Another suspect, Vincent Bajinya, also lives in the UK.

A group of five suspects had been apprehended earlier in 2007 but they were later released, an act that infuriated Kigali.

“Nineteen years later, we cannot afford to have some genocide survivors roaming free on European streets,” Dr Dusingizemungu told Rwanda Today. “Send them home.
“It has been proved that they can have a free and fair trial in Rwanda.”

Dr Dusingizemungu said that if the suspects cannot be sent back to Rwanda, the countries holding them should try them and other countries hosting the fugitives should follow suit.

Prosecutor-General Richard Muhumuza however warned genocide fugitives that their days are numbered.

“Twenty years after the genocide in Rwanda, fugitive accused genocidaires are understandably a source of major concern for my office,” he told Rwanda Today. “We have renewed efforts to liaise with our counterparts in Europe and elsewhere to apprehend and prosecute them.

“I am confident that these efforts will soon yield results.”