EDITORIAL: Dutch, French court Genocide rulings a step in the right direction

Three incidents in quick succession, this week, could not have been so welcome for Rwandans, especially survivors and relatives of victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. A Dutch court on Tuesday okayed the extradition of two Rwandans suspected of participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Jean Claude Iyamuremye and Jean Baptiste Mugimba, indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity, had high hopes of winning the appeal hearing as the Dutch jurisdiction had previously prohibited the extradition. The following day, Octavian Ngenzi and Tito Barahira, former mayors of Kabarondo in eastern Rwanda, were sentenced to life in prison by the Paris’ Cour d’Assises, in a country whose role in the Genocide continues to haunt Rwandans. On the heels of these incidents came the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Rwanda. Netanyahu visited Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre where he paid tribute to Genocide victims and committed his efforts in fighting Genocide denial and revisionism. This particular visit was as crucial in itself given the tragic history the two countries share. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi German went on an extermination spree, killing an estimated six million Jews. Fifty years later, the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda left more than a million Tutsi dead. However, while trivializing the Jewish Holocaust has for long been a crime, the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi continues to be revised, minimised with the world watching. Rwandans, though, have never given in to revisionists and deniers and now there is further ray of hope given the latest developments from European jurisdictions as well as Israel’s tribute to the millions of victims of the 1994 pogrom. France, infamous for harbouring more genocidaires than the rest of the world combined, has finally done something worthwhile. Whether they will take up and continue bringing to justice Genocide suspects on their soil remains to be seen.

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EDITORIAL: Dutch, French court Genocide rulings a step in the right direction