Swedish MPs commit to push for arrest of Genocide fugitives

Visiting Swedish parliamentarians have promised to do everything possible to bring to book Rwandan Genocide fugitives hiding in their country, while advancing parliamentary diplomacy in the fight against genocide ideology, negations and divisionism. The delegation of nine members of the Swedish Parliament, on committee of social insurance, said this on Thursday, after meeting with Parliament Speaker, Donatile Mukabalisa. The team is expected to leave the country next week after touring a number of development projects across the country. Prior to their meeting with the Speaker, the lawmakers met their Rwandan counterparts on the committee in charge of social affairs. They were briefed by MP Marie Rose Mureshyankwano, the chairperson, on a number of things, including social gender issues; securities; insurance; children welfare, widows; and orphans. During this interaction, Rwandan lawmakers implored the Swedish government to do more to bring to book perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who are roaming freely in Stockholm, and other cities in Europe. Speaking to journalists, MP Johan Forssell, stated that upon return they will inform Swedish government and the citizens on the urgency of the issue in a bid to bring perpetrators to justice. “We have to take this issue seriously, because over the last decades Sweden played a very active role in finding the people who are guilty of genocide crimes, not only in Rwanda but also in the former Yugoslavia,” he said. “I don’t have any details about the situation in Rwanda, but that is the question we will look into.” The lawmakers had earlier toured Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre and a number of other memorial spots and monuments. Their fact-finding mission is expected to enable them learn more about Rwanda and Ethiopia, which they earlier visited, to forge more cooperation. In May this year a Stockholm court sentenced Claver Berinkidi, 61, (a former local leader) a Swedish of Rwandan origin to life in prison for genocide and war crimes for his role in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. Two years later, it handed Stanislas Mbanenande (a former university lecturer) life imprisonment for his role in the Genocide. Meanwhile, according to Forssell, the delegation discussed with the Speaker on modalities of wooing Swedish investors to Rwanda, after being briefed on efficiency of doing business in Rwanda and its commitment foreign direct investments. “We also discussed on how to improve conditions for foreign direct investments. We were impressed by the fact that it takes 6 hours to register a company, faster than most parts of Europe. Thus, we will take this knowledge with us back to the Swedish parliament and population; I hope to see more of FDIs coming to Rwanda from Sweden,” he added. Speaker Mukabalisa observed that lately a number of European countries have expressed interest in the positive story of Rwanda’s transformation, which, according to her, increases the country’s visibility and promotes cooperation. “Many people have heard the Rwandan story from the media, thus such visits normally give them firsthand information on top of fostering parliamentary diplomacy, where we all benefit. We took them (Swedish delegation) through a summary of our Rwandan story, by telling them how far the country has come since 1994, although they had gotten a grasp of the narrative when they visited the memorial site, this is very encouraging,” she said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

News

Swedish MPs commit to push for arrest of Genocide fugitives