Hopes are high that after a quarter-century on the run, the past has finally caught up with three Genocide suspects who have been enjoying impunity both France and Belgium. Ernest Gakwaya, Emmanuel Nkunduwimye and Fabien Neretse were arrested in 2011 and have been waiting to face their day in court since then. The first two were arrested in Brussels while Neretse was extradited from France on a European arrest warrant. Rwanda had filed an arrest warrant against Neretse as far back as 2007, and even circulated wildly through Interpol, but it was ignored just as many hundreds more before it. But Neretse was not extradited because he had killed Tutsis, it was because among his victims was a Belgian national and her family. Once the Belgians had signed the arrest warrant it was processed immediately and soon the suspect was on his way to France. The way the case has been treated confirms one thing; even though Belgium has shown willingness to bring Genocide suspects to book, there is no sense of urgency. The mere mention that the suspects were part of a sophisticated machinery that killed over a million people in three months should, in normal circumstances, have elucidated the gravity of the case. But no: as long as no western victim was involved, it remains an African internal matter. The trial of the three suspects is expected to begin in October so it has taken eight years of the case to reach the trial stage. That is how much the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi is regarded. It has been relegated to the bottom drawer, and in the meantime, precious witnesses are dying off or memories fading. But as the saying goes; if one wants a job done right, they should do it themselves. So the suspects still out there should have reason to always look over their shoulders as their day of reckoning will surely arrive.
