Prosecutor general Jean Bosco Mutangana has called upon his counterparts from the region to act upon international arrest warrants issued against fugitives responsible for 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Prosecutor general Jean Bosco Mutangana has called upon his counterparts from the region to act upon international arrest warrants issued against fugitives responsible for 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
He said this Thursday as Kigali hosted the 6th annual general meeting of East African Association of Prosecutors (EAAP).
EAAP was established in 2010 in part to enhance cooperation between prosecution agencies and authorities in East Africa.
"As principals of your prosecuting authorities, I want to make a request to you, that you consider several indictments that have been sent to your respective countries that concern a number of Rwandan Genocide suspects that were indicted by our prosecution,” Mutangana told his peers.
He said that they should make an effort to ensure Genocide fugitives in their respective countries are either extradited to Rwanda or tried in those countries.
The meeting was attended by top prosecutors from Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Mutangana added that this would help close the impunity gap as the region is striving to bring to justice everyone who commits crime.
Talking to The New Times in a separate interview, Mutangana said there are many Genocide fugitives across the region.
He, however, highlighted difficulties in tracking fugitives in the region.
"Fugitives in this region are very hard to find because it’s not like in Europe where authorities can track them to their registered addresses or their social security numbers. Since moving around in the region has been made easy, one can move to remote area and can’t easily be located by the police,” he added.
Mutangana noted that Rwanda prosecutors provide their counterparts with some information about the fugitives and their addresses so that they can help bring those people to justice as international laws allow countries to prosecute fugitives or extradite them.
Over 482 international arrest warrants have been issued by National Public Prosecution Authority to African countries over the past 10 years.
The East African region has many of those and Mutangana says several face crimes against humanity and genocide charges.
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