The international community must do more to apprehend fugitives

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), yesterday, handed over, to the Government of Rwanda, Jean Marie Vianney Mudahinyuka, a genocide fugitive who had been living in the US. Mudahinyuka, who had been sentenced to 51 months in prison for violation of U.S. immigration laws and assaulting on federal officers during his arrest, was using a false name -Thierry Rugamba and posing as a Burundian citizen. The fugitive, who had been sentenced by Gacaca courts to 19 years in prison for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi had, while under oath in 2000, lied on US immigration documents that he was a victim of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, to gain entry to the United States. While the time has come for Mudahinyuka to pay for the crimes he committed, his case serves to highlight how numerous Genocide fugitives have managed to cheat various systems and live freely in cities around the world. Rwanda, has on several occasions called on western powers and African countries, to collaborate in apprehending and bringing to Justice perpetrators of the Genocide living within their jurisdiction. These individuals are criminals, and as demonstrated by Mudahinyuka who assaulted federal officers, they have the potential to commit other crimes or cause insecurity wherever they are. It is, therefore, important that other countries step up to the plate and work with the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit to apprehend the suspects. Ends

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The international community must do more to apprehend fugitives