Dutch police investigators are in the country to investigate suspects living in Netherlands accused of crimes committed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The team of five has spent more than two weeks gathering evidence on an unspecified number of genocide suspects living on the Dutch soil.

The development was confirmed by the head of the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit (GFTU), Jean Bosco Siboyintore. The unit is facilitating the Dutch Investigators.

Siboyintore, however, declined to identify the suspects  saying that it would jeopardise the investigations.

"It wouldn’t be right to reveal the details and names of the suspects or how many are being investigated,” Siboyintore said, adding that other countries have previously sent investigators.

"We have had other teams of investigators from different countries including Norway, Denmark, France, Finland and Canada among others. It happens when there are Interpol red notices issued in those countries,” he added

Siboyintore noted that the visit of the Dutch rogatory committee comes at the time when there are several developments in different countries that indicate that countries have upped the tempo to pursue genocide suspects.

"If you look at the recent decisions by the Dutch court to sentence Joseph Mpambara to life and the decision by Norway to extradite Charles Bandora to Rwanda, you sense countries have woken up to the cause,” Siboyintore said.

A Dutch appeals court last week sentenced Mpambara to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of committing genocide crimes and crimes against humanity.
He had appealed against a 20-year sentence handed to him earlier.

He was the first Rwandan to be convicted in Netherlands for crimes during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi which claimed over one million lives.

Rwanda has sent to Holland a list of over 20 people suspected of having played a role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Both governments have had series of discussions on the issue, consequently leading to visits by Justice Ministers from either side.

Prominent among these fugitives is Yvonne Ntacyobatabara, 64, a wife of former Member of Parliament Augustine Basebya.

She is said to have led a group of militias into mass massacres of Tutsis in Gikondo, Nyenyeri area in 1994 and writing lists of people to be killed. 

She was a member of CDR and has since been sentenced to life by the Gacaca Court in Gikondo.

In a related development, Siboyintore defended Canada on recent reports that the North American country is a safe haven to genocide suspects and other war criminals, noting that Canada is one of the few countries that have pursued and prosecuted genocide related cases.

Reports in the Canadian media this week reported concerns raised by associations of Rwandans in Canada which say they have spotted several individuals wanted for genocide crimes roaming freely in the country.

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