ICTR warns Kenya on Kabuga

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will formally refer Kenya to the United Nations Security Council next month for allegedly failing to cooperate in the hunt for the most wanted Rwandan Genocide fugitive, Félicien Kabuga. Information from a Kenyan local newspaper, Nation, said that ICTR chief prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow , had named Kenya as the biggest obstacle to the capture of the fugitive. Kabuga who tops the list of world’s most wanted fugitives was indicted in 1998 as one of the alleged architects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. However, when contacted on telephone yesterday, Jallow did not deny or accept that he would drag the Kenyan government to the UNSC for its continued failure to arrest Kabuga. “I have no comment to make on that issue at this particular stage” said Jallow According to pundits, if the UNSC endorses Jallow’s plea Kenya could face sanctions for failing to cooperate. Reports also indicate that Jallow recently wrote to the Kenyan Attorney-General Amos Wako informing him of the action the ICTR intends to take next month. When reached on telephone for a comment, the acting Kenyan Ambassador to Rwanda, Harriet Nduma refused to comment saying that; “I can not comment on that issue now until next week.” It is not the first time this same development is coming up. Last June, Jallow told the UNSC that Kenya was not doing enough to arrest Kabuga. The UN later threatened to place sanctions on Kenya if the East African country did not comply, however the game between ICTR and Kenya remains and the latter says Kabuga is not on its land. ICTR claims that Kabuga could be hiding in Kenya protected by powerful personalities. In a recent interview with the media, Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang’ula dismissed allegations of not cooperating saying that “Kenya has fully cooperated in the hunt for Kabuga and has frozen all his assets in Kenya.” The Nation quoted Wetang’ula saying that, “ICTR is using Kenya as a scapegoat to prolong its mandate.” Originally set to expire last December 31, the mandate was extended by the Security Council to December 31, 2009. In a closely related development, the Kenyan Attorney General Keriako Tobiko recently asked a local court in Nairobi to dismiss an application by Felicien Kabuga’s wife to set aside orders freezing their property. The AG said the application by Josephine Mukazitoni lacks merit. Last year around July, Mukazitoni, sent a lawyer to the High Court in Nairobi to lay claim to the property believed to belong to Kabuga. Ends

National

ICTR warns Kenya on Kabuga