Countries should follow in Belgium’s footsteps

WHEN, in 2001, Belgium began criminal proceedings against Rwandans living on its soil for their part in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, there was hope that there would be no safe haven for fugitives in Europe. The misplaced conception was that other countries would soon follow suit and rid their streets of orchestrators of the most heinous crime of the century, but that spirit was slow to catch on as thousands continue to roam many cities. Subsequent trials between 2007 and 2009 were shrouded in technicalities, the accused were not charged with Genocide but rather War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. That is the mysteries of justice, as if Gencoide is not a crime against humanity.