EDITORIAL: Decision on Rwabukombe case a step in the right direction

A top German court, last week, ruled that there was compelling evidence that former Muvumba commune burgomaster Onesphore Rwabukombe may have directly participated in the killing of innocent civilians during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. For this, the Federal Court of Justice ordered that the Genocide convict be retried which could see the former district mayor’s earlier sentence of 14 years in jail increased to life imprisonment. Last year, a lower German court in the city of Frankfurt, had found the Rwandan guilty of overseeing and assisting in the murder of at least 450 Tutsi at Kiziguro church in former Murambi commune, now Gatsibo District, subsequently sentencing him to 14 years in prison. However, Thursday’s decision by Bundesgerichtshof, Germany’s highest court in civil and criminal jurisdiction, reached after examining arguments from both sides, means the convict will now return to the lower court to face more serious charges, which include direct involvement in the killing of Tutsi in eastern Rwanda. The development has been warmly welcomed by activists and Genocide survivor associations back in Rwanda, with many expressing hope that, finally, justice might be delivered as far as Rwabukombe is concerned. For Genocide survivors, in particular, failure by some foreign and international jurisdictions to deliver justice even in where suspects have been arrested and arraigned before court, has been such an emotionally excruciating experience to say the least, and as such, the German court’s move represents a ray of hope for many. There are two main lessons from this decision. One, that Genocide perpetrators no matter how long it takes to bring them to book for their heinous acts, justice will ultimately catch up with them, and that no one should give up on the quest for justice, much less in the face of atrocities that brutally cut short the lives of so many and caused unimaginable pain in so many people’s lives. Two, with this precedent, other jurisdictions that have already conducted trials or intend to undertake hearing of Genocide cases, should be keen to pay close attention to detail, even in the most difficult of circumstances, lest they let high-profile perpetrators of genocide and other grave crimes off the hook. We have a collective responsibility to act to end impunity.

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EDITORIAL: Decision on Rwabukombe case a step in the right direction