28 years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Genocide fugitives continue to roam free in countries across the world. Since the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit (GFTU) was established in 2007 it has issued thousands of indictments directly linking fugitives in different countries to the 100-day massacre in which over a million people were killed. Latest figures show that over 1,100 of these indictments to over 30 countries have not been acted upon, and, on top of delaying justice, you find the same fugitives engaged in the campaign to deny and trivialize the genocide, basing in these very countries. Among the key challenges faced by the tracking unit has been lack of political will among countries to extradite the Genocide suspects to Rwanda so that they stand trial, or at least try them in their courts as an alternative option. The fact that Genocide suspects continue to roam freely abroad has been found to one of the contributing factors to the trivialisation of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi. Of the 1,100 Genocide fugitives, there is evidence that fugitives are present in neighbouring and distant countries. The inaction to bring the fugitives to book is in contravention of a convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide which was approved and proposed for signature and ratification or accession by General Assembly resolution 260 A (III) of 9 December 1948. It entered into force on January 12, 1951. Among other provisions, it states that Genocide and related acts shall not be considered as political crimes for the purpose of extradition. The countries which are parties to the Convention commit in such cases to grant extradition in accordance with their laws and treaties in force. As Rwandans and Friends of Rwanda Commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, countries across the world can do more with regard to accelerate efforts to prosecute fugitives as well as those who espouse the ideology of discrimination, persecution and divisionism
