GASABO - The President of IBUKA, Theodore Simburudali, has expressed dissatisfaction over justice rendered to the suspects of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, many of whom continue to enjoy their freedom in Western countries.

IBUKA is the umbrella organisation of Genocide survivors’ associations in the country.

Simburudali made the revelations on Tuesday as he addressed the congregation gathered at the United States Embassy in Kigali to pay tribute to members of their staff who perished in the Genocide.

He said that the world cannot fight Genocide without bringing to book those who perpetrated it, underlining that the efforts by western countries to tackle the issue seem to be slow thus not very helpful.

"Genocide survivors are disappointed in the way western countries handle cases involving Genocide perpetrators,” he said as he also brought messages of comfort and hope to those who lost their family members during the mayhem that left over a million people dead.

He referred to the recent case involving four former Rwandan leaders who won an appeal case against their extradition to Rwanda to be prosecuted for their alleged role in the 1994 Genocide.

The quartet; Vincent Bajinya, Charles Munyaneza, Celestin Ugirashebuja and Emmanuel Nteziryayo were all indicted by the Rwandan Prosecutor General’s Office for masterminding the Genocide.

Simburudari said it was absurd that the British justice could not judge them itself, nor could it accept to transfer them to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) or just extradite them to Rwanda so that justice can prevail.

He also made it clear that Canada has up to now failed to extradite Leon Mugesera, whose hate speech made him famous as one of the most prominent preachers of Genocide, as he called on Hutus to kill Tutsis and send them to Abyssinia (current Ethiopia) through Nyabarongo River.

Condemning the United States for the same cause against people like a certain Eliezer Zihirambere and Leopold Munyakazi, Simburudali said these countries are not honouring what is stipulated in various conventions to which they are all signatories, most of which oblige them to pursue and punish whoever commits crimes against humanity.

"You should alert your population, because these guys may rape and violate your girls and women if you don’t bring them to justice,” he warned.

US Ambassador to Rwanda, Stuart Symington, said that it is a pity that the world failed Rwanda by not coming to its rescue, which according to him could mean that the world failed the world.

"Those who shot at Tutsis also aimed at the whole world,” he noted, saying that now the world needs to come together and help Rwandans to carry on with life in the aftermath of the atrocities.

"As you succeed, the whole world succeeds alongside you,” Symington said.

He also said that the United States and the rest of the world should continue to fight for justice, saying that sometimes judicial processes may tend to be slow, but stressed that justice will finally prevail.

Ends