The Head of French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecution Office Jean-François Ricard has said it is a responsibility of the French justice system to try the fugitives of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi living in France, adding that time is running out.

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The official is on a two-day working visit in Rwanda, along with a delegation of French prosecutors from March 11 to 13.

Ricard along with Chief Prosecutor of International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), Serge Brammertz and Aimable Havugiyaremye, Prosecutor General, National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA), held a tripartite meeting to discuss cooperation in investigating and prosecuting suspects of genocide and crimes against humanity, living in France.

While French judiciary has shown some progress in recent years to bring to book fugitives who have found a safe haven in their country, the list is still long and several of them continue to live freely and propagate the genocide ideology.

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NPPA, through its Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit has handed to French judicial authorities, indictments for dozens of fugitives, including former members of the Akazu – a powerful cabal that was at the heart of the preparation of the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Among the key members of Akazu is Agathe Habyarimana, the former First Lady who was considered the patron of this elite group of genocide masterminds which had among others senior government officials, top military officers, businessmen, top clerics among others.

Ricard said the French judiciary will continue trying the scheduled cases of Genocide fugitives living on their territory and this is mainly possible due to continuous evidence provided by the Rwandan prosecution.

"Together with the IRMCT, there is an effective synergy of sharing analysis, information, and collecting evidence that allows us to try the Genocide suspects. We have to do it, it’s not an option and time is really against us!” he noted.

RMTC took on the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a UN court which has since closed.

As Rwanda prepares to mark 30 years after the Genocide, the French top prosecutor told survivors that while trying and convicting Genocide perpetrators may not completely lift the pain away, and in no way is it an attempt, it should be done.

Havugiyaremye said the visit is an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the respective institutions and share knowledge on best practices in dealing with emerging challenges to deliver quality justice.

"This visit comes at a time when the country prepares the 30th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. This meeting is, therefore, significant in terms of discussion aimed at bringing the Genocide perpetrators to justice.”

He added that through the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit, Rwanda has issued 1,149 indictments against genocide fugitives to 33 countries across the world, out of which 30 fugitives were extradited or deported to be tried in Rwanda.

On cooperation between Rwanda’s prosecution office and French judicial institutions, Havugiyaremye noted that since 2007, several indictments and arrest warrants have been issued against fugitives in France.

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According to him, evidence collected by the IRMCT will contribute to the modification and improvement of certain indictment documents sent to different countries, as part of the ongoing cooperation.

IRMCT Chief Prosecutor, Brammertz, said that the mechanism has more than a million of pages of documents relating to the Genocide, which is a huge database of evidence that needs to be made available to the Rwandan prosecution.

"Thirty years on, time is not on our side. We have observed that what happened with the [Felicien] Kabuga trial can happen in other trials, the perpetrators are not getting any younger and unfortunately, the same for survivors. We should use time effectively with other cases,” he said.

"We want to give a clear message to European countries: if fugitives are on your territory, there are two options. You either extradite them to Rwanda or if for any political or legal reason you cannot do so, you can conduct the trial yourself. Our main goal is to give survivors the deserved justice.”

He further clarified that the work of the mechanism in Rwanda is not completely over, but only closing its administrative office while the prosecutor’s and analyst’s office remain.

During his visit, Ricard is expected to hold talks with the Minister of Justice, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja and Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, Jean-Damascène Bizimana, and also visit Kigali Genocide Memorial site and Murambi Memorial site which is located in southern Rwanda.